Elk Falls News

On the night of Sept. 9, 1834, Prudence Crandall, her new husband and some of her black female students were inside her school in the village of Canterbury when they heard loud voices outside and then banging ... via The Hartford Courant

“With the permanent closure of the TimberWest and other sawmills taking curtailment, the potential to restart No. 1 paper machine in the foreseeable future has disappeared.”

- Catalyst Paper (TSX:CTL) said it will cut 227 jobs at its two largest mills amid rising input costs and fibre shortages, as it posted a wider first-quarter loss.

The Vancouver-area company says the cuts will affect 145 hourly and staff employees at the Elk Falls mill in Campbell River, B.C. as the No. 1 paper machine, which was curtailed last September, is indefinitely idled.

About 82 positions will be reduced at the Crofton mill in North Cowichan, "as the operation takes steps to bring its overall cost structure closer to best-quartile performance." Read more

“There are some terrific properties, many of which are close to water, that developers want to join hands with us on”

- A potential bidder has emerged for the Elk Falls sawmill on Vancouver Island, but owner TimberWest Forest Corp. (TSX:TWF.UN) is holding little hope an official offer will come forward before the mill is set to close next week.

Vancouver-based TimberWest said the bidder has signed a confidentiality agreement and is doing its due diligence, but a company spokesperson said in an interview they aren't aware of an offer coming before the mill's closing date.

"Unless there is a last-minute sale, the final shift at the sawmill will be May 9," president and chief executive Paul McElligott added during a conference call with analysts Thursday. Read more

“Fibre constraints required us to curtail 65,000 metric tons of pulp and paper at our Elk Falls mill during the quarter”

Catalyst Paper posted a net loss of $37.4 million on sales of $399.5 million in the first quarter of 2008. via Recycling Today

“As in the third quarter, we faced weak markets in the U.S., oversupplied markets in Japan, a strong Canadian dollar and escalating contractor costs.”

- TimberWest Forest Corp. (TSX:TWF.UN) reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday and warned it did not expect to generate sufficient distributable cash to cover its distribution obligations in 2008.

"We will assess our financial situation carefully and update unitholders quarterly as we manage through this downturn," the company said in a statement.

"The company has a strong balance sheet and one of our goals will be to preserve it as we manage through these challenging business conditions and continue to focus on growing long-term unitholder value." Read more