Port Hawkesbury Paper to diversify as newsprint mill demolished

PortHawkesburyPaper is looking to the future and eyeing new projects as plans to demolish the idle newsprint mill move forward.

"The roof of the mill is cement and from a safety standpoint, if not operating, roofs fail over time," said MarcDube, PortHawkesburyPaper's development manager."We're demolishing it before it becomes a safety issue,"

The newsprint mill was idle when current owners, Stern Partners, bought the operation in2012.Dubesaid there were never plans to restart it due operation costs and the dyingmarket for newsprint.

The company did try to sell it in its entirety, butDubesaid there is no interest "across the globe" in dismantling and rebuilding it.Now, the company willsell what it canin parts, with the rest going to scrap.

The building is expected to be demolished next spring andDubesaid the company wants the newsprint mill site for other projects.

Looking to the future

"We have threeor fourdifferent plans for the site,"Dubesaid. "It could be a bottled water plant, atransloadingsite or a site to fill [shipping] containers."

The company is also looking at extracting sugar from wood for use in biodegradable plastics.

Dubesaid Port Hawkesbury Paper will continue to makesupercalendaredpaper, which has not been as adversely affected by market changes as newsprint.

"The mill is the newest and best quality paper-making plant in North American,"Dubesaid."We believe because of that we'll be making paper here for a long time."

The paper is currently loaded intocontainers and shippedto Halifax. With that capacity,there's an opportunity to load other products and ship them elsewhere.

'An economic driver'

Dubesaid with the prospect of the rail line between PortHawkesburyand Sydney not resuming operations, there's a business opportunity to send materials by rail car to the mill site, load it into trucks and shipit to Sydney and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Already, the company isshipping plastic pellets and building supplies to Sydney businesses.

"It's good business for the mill and those it's serving,"Dubesaid.

Dubesaid the PortHawkesburyoperation directly employs 330 on site, not counting the Nova ScotiaPower employees who work there.

He said another 400 to500 people work in the forest harvesting wood for the plant.

"It certainly is an economic driver for the Strait area," he said
.