Kamloops mill to be sold as condition of Domtar merger with Paper Excellence

KAMLOOPS — The future of the Domtar Kamloops pulp mill is cloudy after news broke that the company’s merger with Paper Excellence was approved.

In a news release issued Thursday (Nov. 18) — Domtar announced the South Carolina-based Paper Excellence has acquired all of Domtar’s stock.

The merger was approved by the Canadian Competition Bureau.

However, as a condition of the approval, Domtar says the Kamloops mill will need to be sold.

The sale would resolve the bureau’s concerns about the merger’s implications on the purchase of wood fibre from the Thompson-Okanagan region.

Rene Pellerin of Unifor Local 10B says he is not concerned that the mill’s future is in jeopardy.

“Our mill’s doing very well,” Pellerin told CFJC Today. “It’s fitted up for the future. The mill manager and Domtar have invested a lot of money in our mill. It’s well-run, basically maintenance-free. We’ve been keeping up with the maintenance on it. Our pulp is selling and the next buyer will have a good deal when they buy us.”