Paper Excellence’s Catalyst Crofton Paper Mill Shutdown Extended Through August

Victoria News and other local sources are reporting that the Catalyst Crofton Paper Excellence mill will remain temporarily shut down through the month of August. As a result, employees from the Public and Private Workers of Canada Local 2 and Unifor Local 1132 will remain off the job, after originally being scheduled to return to work on Monday, July 31st.

An unnamed Paper Excellence Canada spokesperson provided the following statement to Victoria News:

“The curtailment at the Crofton site will be extended to the end of August. This includes pulp, paper, and shipping operations. Global pulp and paper prices have continued to decline through July, mainly driven by high inventories and weak demand.

Throughout July, the mill has maintained a core complement of staffing levels to safeguard the site. This will continue through August. We will also continue to work with both the PPWC and Unifor to assist employees where we can to help minimize the impact.

This is a difficult decision to make, and we recognize the hardship it will cause our employees and our community. We want to emphasize that this curtailment is about poor market conditions and increasing cost pressures, and not a reflection of our employees’ efforts at the site.”