Norske Skog Canada is briefly shutting down three pulp mills to reduce production in the wake of recent pulp price drops and production cutbacks across Europe and North America.


The firm will cut output of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp by over 15% through shutdowns at three of its British Columbia mills, resulting in a loss of 29,000 tonnes during the second quarter.


Norske Skog Canada has an annual capacity of 744,000 tonnes of NBSK. The decrease in production amounts to 15.6% of quarterly output when running at full capacity.


Canfor will slow down NBSK production at four of its mills, taking out 10,000 tonnes, until further notice.


And 13,000 tonnes has also been lost at Canfors Prince George mill in British Columbia, which is closed for maintenance.


Skeena Cellulose has cut production by 10,000-12,000 tonnes due to market reasons.


More cutbacks are expected as pulp producers voice concerns over the high inventory levels that have resulted from paper mills also taking downtime.


Story by Andy Scott