Canadian pulp and paper company Kruger announced that its subsidiary Kruger Specialty Papers Holding LP has completed the acquisition of Domtar’s paper mill in Kamloops, British Columbia. The acquisition was announced in the middle of last May.
The Kamloops plant, which produces 400 thousand tons per year of Northern bleached softwood kraft NBSK and unbleached softwood kraft pulp, will continue to operate normally, meeting all existing volume commitments and agreements with customers and suppliers. The Mill’s 320 jobs will be maintained. In addition, Kruger intends to maintain ongoing initiatives to continue modernizing the Mill. This acquisition will enable Kruger to secure pulp supply for some of its mills, including those in Quebec, where the company is investing about $ 1 billion to build two state-of-the-art tissue plants.
The company also recognizes the important role played by the Kamloops site in the Thompson/Okanagan region and will work closely with local sawmills and wood fiber suppliers to strengthen relationships with these key partners.
«We are very happy to welcome our new Kamloops colleagues into our group and to expand our activities in British Columbia» says François D’Amours, Kruker’s executive vicepresident and chief operating officer. «Kamloops is a world-class facility and a natural fit for Kruger considering its strong emphasis on product quality, employee safety and sustainability. Over the coming weeks, as we support and empower our Kamloops team to keep doing the great work they’ve been doing, we will also focus on strengthening relationships with the Mill’s existing customers, suppliers, and business partners, as well as with the local community which we are proud to call home from now on».
With this acquisition, Kruger is strengthening its presence in British Columbia as a major employer and provider of essential products. Taking into account its other operations, namely the Kruger Products tissue plant, in New Westminster, and Kruger Energy’s Zeballos Lake Hydro Plant, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, the Company now has close to 700 employees in the province.