ND Paper to Take Extended Downtime at Old Town Pulp Mill in Maine

According to an article online at Bangor Daily News, ND Paper will take "extended downtime" beginning in mid-April at its Old Town pulp mill in Maine.

ND Paper spokesperson Jay Capron on March 28 cited the rising cost of fiber, along with energy costs and market conditions as reasons for the upcoming downtime.

ND Paper purchased the shuttered mill in October 2018 and converted its production from bleached hardwood kraft pulp to unbleached softwood kraft pulp.

The mill restarted in August of 2019.

In April of 2021, ND Paper announced the launch of a new recycled pulping operation at the Old Town mill. The new production line has the installed capacity to produce about 200 metric tons per day of unbleached recycled pulp.

According to information on ND Paper's website, the Old Town mill has 199 full-time employees and operates two pulp lines with the annual capacity to produce 73,000 tons of recycled market pulp (OCC) and 178,000 tons of unbleached softwood pulp (kraft).

TAPPI
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