Pulp mill increasing production by 15%

The owners of the pulp mill in Woodland are aiming to increase production by 15% or more in order to improve the stability and profitability of the operation. That increased production will mean additional cargo for the port of Eastport, with more ships being loaded and another warehouse needed.
Bert Martin, a director of Woodland Pulp LLC, says the mill will be increasing to 1,200 metric tons a day for an annual production of approximately 420,000 metric tons. In the past production has been about 360,000 metric tons.
The mill has been producing hardwood pulp, but Martin says trials are being run for softwood pulp production. Depending on the supply of softwood, the Woodland operation may become a swing mill, producing softwood pulp for three weeks, then hardwood for a month and a half, and swinging back to softwood. Presently the mill purchases from approximately 20 to 25 suppliers in Maine and New Brunswick from as far as Ashland. Some new suppliers would have to be found to begin softwood pulp production.
Martin notes that softwood would help diversify the mill's output and that the sales price is better than for hardwood pulp. "We want to improve the profitability of the mill," he notes, so whether the Woodland operation becomes a swing mill will depend "on the ability to generate a return."
Although reports have indicated that the mill is looking to add a paper-making machine to produce a type of tissue paper, Martin says a return to making paper, which the mill produced until 2007, is not being considered. He adds that there are no plans to increase employment beyond the 300 jobs that the mill now provides. "We're not in the business of creating jobs, we're in the business of making money. We want to make the facility as efficient as possible."
Martin says that Woodland Pulp is looking at using natural gas by running a line the five miles from the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline to the mill. Engineering work is now being done on that project, and Martin says the cost could be about $10 million to place the line. The mill does presently generate power by burning bark from the Fulghum Fibres operation that is next to the mill.
Another change may be to shorten the period of the maintenance shutdowns that are done annually. Instead of a two- or three-week period, the shutdown could be for only seven days.
According to Martin, the mill may offer public tours of the operation this summer.
Martin had assisted International Grand Investment Corporation (IGIC) with negotiations for the purchase of the mill from Domtar Corporation in November 2010. Before taking the position at Woodland Pulp, he worked in the pulp and paper industry for 40 years, with 38 years at Fraser Papers.

Shipments through port increasing
Almost all of the pulp produced at the Woodland mill is shipped through the port of Eastport. About 25% to 30% of the pulp is sent to Europe, with most of the rest going to China. All of the hardwood pulp is used for paper-making. Three new large paper mills have been built in China, and the country doesn't have a supply of hardwood pulp. IGIC is owned by a Chinese engineering and trading company, and the Baileyville mill's 400,000 metric tons of hardwood pulp is over half of the 700,000 tons of hardwood that IGIC trades annually.
At the Port of Eastport, Federal Marine Terminals Manager Skip Rogers points out that, from the first of the year to the end of March, 14 ships have been loaded or are scheduled to pick up shipments of pulp or cows, for an average of more than a ship a week. In January, seven ships -- a record number for a month -- were loaded. Rogers notes that the average used to be one or maybe two ships a month, with no ships during some months.
"Pulp shipments are going great guns," Rogers notes. "The mill is cranked flat out, without downtime."
The increase in pulp production has prompted the Eastport Port Authority to plan to build a fifth warehouse. Port Director Chris Gardner says, "We were told we will see volumes that will potentially exceed last year." In 2010 the port broke a record by shipping over 400,000 metric tons. Gardner notes that ships also are taking a greater amount of tonnage each time, as the larger carriers going to China hold more than the ones going to Europe, so the port has to store a greater amount of pulp.
The number of ships has meant "a lot of hours" for the longshoremen, says Rogers. "People have had to have other work, as we didn't provide enough. Now we're providing more," and some workers have had to leave, because of the demands of their other work. Some do carpentry, fishing or work in the woods to complement their livelihood, he notes. With pulp shipments increasing, cows being shipped out, the empty cow containers being unloaded at the port and the new bulk-material conveyor system scheduled to begin operating later this year, Rogers says that the need for longshoremen will continue to grow.