Two B.C. pulp mills start to wind down operations

He said the Mackenzie mill is a money-maker with pulp prices near record highs of $900 US per tonne. The mill is producing 780 tonnes a day of pulp, he said, leading him to believe the shutdown could be short in the case of Mackenzie.

Both the Mackenzie and Harmac mills require any prospective purchaser to inject new capital, but the Mackenzie mill is seen by industry observers as having more of a future than Harmac, where capital expenditures of $100 million are required.

If the assets are sold separately, finding a purchaser for Mackenzie would be easier, said Berry. He said during the sale process last year representatives from Finnish forest company Stora Enso visited Mackenzie.

He speculated Pindo Deli may be pursuing a strategy where it can buy only the money-making Mackenzie mill, as well as the sawmill at Fort St. James that could provide a fibre supply for Mackenzie.

Blowtank wrote:

He said the Mackenzie mill is a money-maker with pulp prices near record highs of $900 US per tonne. The mill is producing 780 tonnes a day of pulp, he said, leading him to believe the shutdown could be short in the case of Mackenzie.
Both the Mackenzie and Harmac mills require any prospective purchaser to inject new capital, but the Mackenzie mill is seen by industry observers as having more of a future than Harmac, where capital expenditures of $100 million are required.
If the assets are sold separately, finding a purchaser for Mackenzie would be easier, said Berry. He said during the sale process last year representatives from Finnish forest company Stora Enso visited Mackenzie.
He speculated Pindo Deli may be pursuing a strategy where it can buy only the money-making Mackenzie mill, as well as the sawmill at Fort St. James that could provide a fibre supply for Mackenzie.

Hey BT! so who is this "Rick Berry" anyway.

He must be someone of great importance with his finger on the "mill acqusition"trigger right...

Nope he's just a common mill slog like myself hoping to have a job tomorrow, the only difference is he goes out his way to put a postive spin everytime he talks to the Prince George Citizen, and us down here in the HUB city rarely get good press.

If Rick was totally upfront and honest he would be telling the like's of you that Mackenzie is really in a worse fibre shortage than us + they have "break-up" which will significantly limit their future fibre thru to november. And they have been running like dog shit the past month

The Catfish,
Rick Berry doesn't put a positive spin on anything. He just plays up the drama. He only cares about seeing his name in print and knows the kindof sound bites the press want to hear. But you are right: he's just a 'mill slog' who doesn't check his facts: the Mackenzie mill isn't making money AND it isn't producing any where near 780 tonnes a day.

But I disagree with you about our fibre supply being worse. We've never sunk as low as buying chips from Prince Rupert. And break up doesn't impact fiber supply because they haul like pigs in the winter and stock pile for the summer. Storage is NOT an issue up here in the boonies.