Catalyst Paper
Encyclopedia
Catalyst Paper Corporation is a Canadian
paper
manufacturer. Based in Richmond, British Columbia
, the company produces paper and pulp for commercial printers, publishers and paper manufacturers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and Europe. Catalyst is western North America’s largest mechanical paper producer, the region’s only producer of lightweight coated paper
and the world’s largest manufacturer of paper for telephone and other directories. The company also makes market kraft pulp
.
Catalyst Paper Corporation is a member of the Forest Products Association of Canada
.
(Crofton Division), and paper mills in Port Alberni (Port Alberni Division) and Powell River
(Powell River Division). Most of the pulp and paper products manufactured at these plants are shipped by tug and covered barge to the Surrey
Distribution Centre for trans-shipping to the company's customers worldwide. It also ran a paper de-inking plant in Coquitlam (Paper Recycling Division, pemanently closed in 2010). In April 2008 Catalyst purchased a 100% recycle newsprint mill in Snowflake Arizona from Abitibi Consolidated. The Snowflake mill purchase included the Apache Railway, a short haul railway. Catalyst's head office is located in Richmond
.
pulp mill in Port Alberni in 1947 and later added two newsprint machines. These two companies eventually merged into MacMillan Bloedel
. The next branch of the family tree was British Columbia Forest Products Limited, formed in 1946 as a logging and sawmilling company. With extensive forest operations in British Columbia, BCFP built a solid reputation as a leading wood products company. The company diversified in the early 1950s, opening its Crofton pulp mill in 1957 and adding newsprint production in 1964, and soon was one of the province's largest integrated forest products companies. The third branch was Crown Zellerbach Canada, which opened a modern newsprint mill at Elk Falls near Campbell River
in 1952 and later expanded into Kraft pulp production. In 1981, Fletcher Challenge
of New Zealand purchased Crown Zellerbach Canada and renamed it Crown Forest Industries.
In 1987, Fletcher Challenge purchased BCFP. A year later, both companies were merged to form Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited. Gradually, the company began to sharpen its focus on pulp and paper as its core businesses. As a result, it sold its wood products and forest interests to other operators.
In 2000, Norske Skog
, a Norwegian
paper company, purchased all of Fletcher Challenge's pulp and paper assets, including its majority interest in Fletcher Challenge Canada. That fall, the company changed its name to Norske Skog Canada Limited. Its stock symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange
was NS.
In August 2001, Norske Skog Canada acquired Pacifica Papers, which had been formed in 1998 from the paper assets previously held by MacMillan Bloedel. With this acquisition, which effectively doubled the size of the company, the company assumed the new identity of NorskeCanada.
In December 2003 the company grew once again, with the acquisition of Newstech Recycling in Coquitlam. As Catalyst's Paper Recycling Division, the facility recycled old newspapers and magazines to create de-inked pulp that the company used to manufacture paper products. While all divisions used some amounts of recycled pulp, one paper machine at Crofton Division was especially dependent on this fibre source.
In October 2005, shareholders approved a name change, and NorskeCanada became Catalyst Paper Corporation. The company said it chose the new name so it could do business under its own unique identity, one that clearly differentiated it with customers and that accurately reflected its capital structure. The name "Catalyst" was also the name of the company's premium lightweight directory paper.
In February 2006, Norske Skog sold all of its remaining Catalyst shares, ending its association with the company.
By 2009, Catalyst was facing a steep decline in demand and prices for paper products (particularly newsprint) and an overcapacity of production in North America, along with high labour and property tax costs in British Columbia. Rationalization of its business was necessary; the company temporarily closed the Elk Falls mill in February, and reduced production at its other B.C. mills. The following July, Catalyst made the difficult decision to make the mill's closure permanent, and also permanently closed the Paper Recycling Division. Catalyst continues to make recycled paper from its Snowflake Arizona paper mill.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
manufacturer. Based in Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
, the company produces paper and pulp for commercial printers, publishers and paper manufacturers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and Europe. Catalyst is western North America’s largest mechanical paper producer, the region’s only producer of lightweight coated paper
Coated paper
Coated paper is paper which has been coated by a compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness or reduced ink absorbency. Kaolinite or calcium carbonate are used to coat paper for high quality printing used in packaging industry and in magazines...
and the world’s largest manufacturer of paper for telephone and other directories. The company also makes market kraft pulp
Kraft paper
Kraft paper or kraft is paper or paperboard produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process.Pulp produced by the kraft process is stronger than that made by other pulping processes; acidic sulfite processes degrade cellulose more, leading to weaker fibers, and mechanical pulping...
.
Catalyst Paper Corporation is a member of the Forest Products Association of Canada
Forest Products Association of Canada
Founded in 1913, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association changed its name to the Forest Products Association of Canada in February 2001.The Forest Products Association of Canada , is a trade association which represents Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers both nationally and internationally...
.
Divisions
Catalyst owns a pulp and paper mill in CroftonCrofton, British Columbia
Crofton, British Columbia, Canada, is a small coastal town that is part of the District of North Cowichan on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The population is estimated at 2,500 people...
(Crofton Division), and paper mills in Port Alberni (Port Alberni Division) and Powell River
Powell River, British Columbia
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, that part of the larger Georgia Strait between Texada Island and the Mainland...
(Powell River Division). Most of the pulp and paper products manufactured at these plants are shipped by tug and covered barge to the Surrey
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
Distribution Centre for trans-shipping to the company's customers worldwide. It also ran a paper de-inking plant in Coquitlam (Paper Recycling Division, pemanently closed in 2010). In April 2008 Catalyst purchased a 100% recycle newsprint mill in Snowflake Arizona from Abitibi Consolidated. The Snowflake mill purchase included the Apache Railway, a short haul railway. Catalyst's head office is located in Richmond
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
.
History
The roots of Catalyst Paper date back a century, when the Powell River Company opened a newsprint mill at Powell River in 1912. Bloedel, Stewart & Welch, Ltd. started up their KraftKraft process
The kraft process describes a technology for conversion of wood into wood pulp consisting of almost pure cellulose fibers...
pulp mill in Port Alberni in 1947 and later added two newsprint machines. These two companies eventually merged into MacMillan Bloedel
MacMillan Bloedel Limited
MacMillan Bloedel Limited, sometimes referred to as "MacBlo", was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was formed through the merger of three smaller forestry companies in 1951 and 1959. Those were the Powell River Company, the Bloedel Stewart Welch Company,...
. The next branch of the family tree was British Columbia Forest Products Limited, formed in 1946 as a logging and sawmilling company. With extensive forest operations in British Columbia, BCFP built a solid reputation as a leading wood products company. The company diversified in the early 1950s, opening its Crofton pulp mill in 1957 and adding newsprint production in 1964, and soon was one of the province's largest integrated forest products companies. The third branch was Crown Zellerbach Canada, which opened a modern newsprint mill at Elk Falls near Campbell River
Campbell River, British Columbia
Campbell River is a coastal city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route...
in 1952 and later expanded into Kraft pulp production. In 1981, Fletcher Challenge
Fletcher Challenge
Fletcher Challenge is a now defunct multinational corporation from New Zealand, formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper...
of New Zealand purchased Crown Zellerbach Canada and renamed it Crown Forest Industries.
In 1987, Fletcher Challenge purchased BCFP. A year later, both companies were merged to form Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited. Gradually, the company began to sharpen its focus on pulp and paper as its core businesses. As a result, it sold its wood products and forest interests to other operators.
In 2000, Norske Skog
Norske Skog
Norske Skogindustrier ASA or Norske Skog, which translates as Norwegian Forest Industries, is a Norwegian pulp and paper company based in Oslo, Norway and established in 1962...
, a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
paper company, purchased all of Fletcher Challenge's pulp and paper assets, including its majority interest in Fletcher Challenge Canada. That fall, the company changed its name to Norske Skog Canada Limited. Its stock symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, the third largest in North America and the seventh largest in the world by market capitalisation. Based in Canada's largest city, Toronto, it is owned by and operated as a subsidiary of the TMX Group for the trading of senior equities...
was NS.
| Financial Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2001 | |
| Net Sales (C$M) | 1,482.3 | 1,388.7 |
| Net Earnings (C$M) | (123.3) | 44.5 |
In August 2001, Norske Skog Canada acquired Pacifica Papers, which had been formed in 1998 from the paper assets previously held by MacMillan Bloedel. With this acquisition, which effectively doubled the size of the company, the company assumed the new identity of NorskeCanada.
In December 2003 the company grew once again, with the acquisition of Newstech Recycling in Coquitlam. As Catalyst's Paper Recycling Division, the facility recycled old newspapers and magazines to create de-inked pulp that the company used to manufacture paper products. While all divisions used some amounts of recycled pulp, one paper machine at Crofton Division was especially dependent on this fibre source.
In October 2005, shareholders approved a name change, and NorskeCanada became Catalyst Paper Corporation. The company said it chose the new name so it could do business under its own unique identity, one that clearly differentiated it with customers and that accurately reflected its capital structure. The name "Catalyst" was also the name of the company's premium lightweight directory paper.
In February 2006, Norske Skog sold all of its remaining Catalyst shares, ending its association with the company.
By 2009, Catalyst was facing a steep decline in demand and prices for paper products (particularly newsprint) and an overcapacity of production in North America, along with high labour and property tax costs in British Columbia. Rationalization of its business was necessary; the company temporarily closed the Elk Falls mill in February, and reduced production at its other B.C. mills. The following July, Catalyst made the difficult decision to make the mill's closure permanent, and also permanently closed the Paper Recycling Division. Catalyst continues to make recycled paper from its Snowflake Arizona paper mill.