No Co-op Bid Received For Eurocan

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. -  A West Fraser-imposed deadline came and went without any bid coming forward from a group wanting to re-open the Eurocan pulp and paper mill in Kitimat.

The mill was shut down in January, throwing 535 people out of work.  In March, a report from Poyry Forest Industry Consulting suggested the mill could once again operate profitably producing pulp on a single machine.

A viability group and the Communications Energy and Paperworkers local had hoped to form a cooperative to run the mill, they were seeking a substantial financial investor to support their bid to purchase that machine from West Fraser by the company's July 15th deadline.

Calls to CEP Local 298 President, Mary Murphy, have not been returned, but a West Fraser spokesperson says the deadline passed without an offer coming in.

Rick Maksymetz, Operations Manager for West Fraser's kraft pulp and paper business, says the company asked for a non-binding offer by July 15th.  "They (the Eurocan Viability Study Group) wanted us to hold off on, in particular, selling the number-two paper machine to give them an opportunity to find investors who would be willing to run that system."

And Maksymetz says the company cooperated, but with the deadline's passing, it's time to continue looking at options.  He says that's not to say West Fraser won't entertain a future offer from the group, "We're certainly open to any new, legitimate interest by that group or any other group until final decisions are made."

Maksymetz says in the nine months since Eurocan closed, "We haven't had any legitimate offers from anybody interested in operating the kraft pulp and paper mill in whole or in part."

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