Port Hawkesbury Celebrates First Year of Re-Start

The Port Hawkesbury Paper mill in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, this week held an open house at the facility to celebrate its upcoming first anniversary. The Stern Group acquired the mill from NewPage in September 2012. New owner Ron Stern reports that the mill is now turning a small profit, according to Canada's CTV News.

Stern told reporters at the event that the mill's profit is "not very big." He added that "as a matter of fact, it is pretty skinny and it's nowhere near where we need to get to for a sound future, but it is a big deal to be able to say we're operating profitably." 

Only one of the mill's two production lines reopened, and only about half the staff was brought back. "We would have liked to have 600 jobs, but there's 300 jobs, with good incomes," said Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean. "Full-time work with a future, I guess we couldn't hope for anything better than that." 

According to a report by ForestTalk.Com, Stern said that it is likely the mill's older newsprint machine will soon be sold off. The company has operated only the mill's newer supercalenderd paper machine since starting back up. Mill officials have said there isn't enough fiber available in Nova Scotia to operate the older paper machine, and the company is not willing to go to the expense of importing fiber as the mill's previous operator, NewPage Port Hawkesbury, did, ForestTalk.com added.

"We're here for the long haul," says Stern. "I'll tell you that right now, we're committed to this place. We're stubborn and together, with the people in this mill, we'll move heaven and earth to make this mill succeed."