By ANDREW WAREING
Mid-October to mid-November was a tough month for 87 people working with the Smurfit-Stone corrugated medium mill in Thunder Bay.
On Oct. 23, workers were told Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. planned to close the plant as part of an overall program to deal with a declining market in the area of corrugated paper containers.
“There has been a slowing down of U.S. manufacturers shipping overseas while the number of goods being imported into North America have increased rapidly,” says Mylene Labrie, director of communications for Smurfit-Stone Canada. “The end result is a loss of demand in North America for corrugated paper.”
Production at the mill was scheduled to shut down on Nov. 14. However, a few people remained on site to go through the process of idling the mill. It is a process that is expected to take until Dec. 11, says Labrie.
The shutdown is part of a larger rationalizing by Smurfit-Stone that includes temporarily idling one of two paper machines in its Jacksonville, Fla. containerboard mill. The company is also permanently closing two paper machines in Philadelphia and continuing to reduce the cost and asset base of its corrugated container and consumer packaging operations over the next 18 months.
She says the company is willing to entertain serious offers to purchase the mill.
Marvin Pupeza, national representative for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union in Thunder Bay, says a private individual has expressed interest in purchasing the mill and is currently in the process of securing funds to develop a viable business plan for the venture.
“Right now, our biggest concern is protecting the assets,” he says. “The company is saying that they will be cutting off the heat after Dec. 11 and, by then, it gets pretty cold. You’re looking at pipes freezing and there are rubber seals on equipment that, when they freeze, they crack...”
The union has asked for investigation by federal officials under the Canadian Competition Act. Labrie says the company is more than willing to meet with federal officials.
“We’re ready and available if we’re asked. We just haven’t been asked,” she says. “Personally, I don’t think (the board) will get involved.”
