Nova Scotia Financial Commitment Supports Sale of NewPage Port Hawkesbury Mill
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The Canadian Province of Nova Scotia this week announced a financial commitment to support the sale of the former NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill to Pacific West Commercial Corp., reportedly bringing more than 1,400 jobs and more than $11 million in annual revenue to the province. The provincial assistance is contingent on Pacific West's final purchase of the mill.
After NewPage, Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, indefinitely shutdown the Port Hawkesbury mill in September 2011 and filed for creditor protection in the U.S. and Canada, Pacific West, associated with Stern Partners, a Vancouver, B.C., Canada, investment firm that also owns Alberta Newsprint Co. of Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada, and Westland Paper Co., an Oregon, USA-based mill, became the successful bidder for the idled operation in January of this year. The bid amount was reported to be $33 million.
Through its Jobs Fund, the Province of Nova Scotia is providing a financial package that includes:
- A $24-million loan to support improved productivity and efficiency
- A $40-million repayable loan for working capital to help the mill become a low cost, competitive producer of supercalendered (SC) papers
- $1.5 million to train workers to operate the paper machine
- $1 million to implement a marketing plan to sell the Nova Scotia forestry sector to the world and create customer opportunities.
The province, through the Department of Natural Resources, has also agreed to invest:
- $20 million to buy 51,500 acres of land to help meet the province's commitment to increase Crown land share and ensure the resource is protected for future generations
- $3.8 million annually, for 10 years, from the forestry restructuring fund to support sustainable harvesting, forest land management, and fund programs that will allow more woodlot owners and pulpwood suppliers to become more active in the management of their woodlands
- Funding for the development of a Mi'kmaq Forestry Strategy and a Mi'kmaq forestry coordinator.
"These investments will support the most modern paper machine in the industry and the development of a new and innovative forestry sector that will give future generations the opportunity to live, work, and raise a family in Nova Scotia," said Premier Darrell Dexter.
Restarting the mill, the province notes, will bring 330 people back to work, protect 600 indirect jobs in the woodlands, sawmills, and power generation industries, and provide 500 more jobs for local communities.
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