Tembec has announced the permanent closure of its newsprint mill located in Pine Falls, Manitoba.

The mill had been indefinitely idled due to a labour dispute on September 1, 2009. After examining a full range of options, Tembec initiated a sales process for the mill in early January 2010. This sales process has proved unsuccessful. After a thorough analysis of the situation, Tembec concluded that the permanent closure of the facility was the only viable option. Approximately 230 employees will be affected.

"Although not an easy decision to make, the structural decline of the newsprint market and the cost structure of the mill prompted such a decision," said Chris Black, Tembec's Executive Vice President and President, Paper Group. "The Company intends to act in a manner that will ensure that employees receive their severance pay in accordance with the collective agreement."

As a result of this announcement, a net charge of approximately $8 million related to the closure will be recorded in the quarter ending September 25, 2010.

Source: Tembec

AbitibiBowater announced today that nine individuals have been selected to serve, along with current Board Chairman Richard B. Evans and President and Chief Executive Officer David J. Paterson, on a newly constituted board of directors.

The term of this new board will begin when the Company's Plans of Reorganization receive creditor approval and confirmation by the U.S. and Canadian Courts, and the Company emerges from creditor protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in Canada. The designated Non-Executive Chairman of the Board will be Richard B. Evans, continuing AbitibiBowater's current governance practices of having a non-executive serve as Chair and a majority of independent directors.

Under the terms of the Plans of Reorganization and Disclosure Statements filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Quebec Superior Court, a search committee - consisting of representatives from the Unsecured Creditors' Committee, the Ad Hoc Unsecured Noteholders Committee and the Company - selected the board of the restructured company. The search committee hired the independent search firm of Russell Reynolds Associates to support the selection process.

The following directors will join Richard Evans and David Paterson on the new board:

Pierre Dupuis (Sutton, QC) is a board member of Norbord Inc. and Brookfield Renewable Power Fund. Previously, Mr. Dupuis was Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Dorel Industries Inc. Prior to his appointment at Dorel, Mr. Dupuis was President and COO of Transcontinental Inc. and a senior executive with Domtar Inc.

Richard Falconer (Toronto, ON) is Vice Chairman and Managing Director of CIBC World Markets Inc. He joined Wood Gundy in 1970 and previous roles include Financial Analyst, Director of Research and Co-Head Investment Banking. Mr. Falconer is a board member of the Bridgepoint Health Foundation and Chair of their Campaign Cabinet Committee.

Richard Garneau (Montreal, QC) has been a director of AbitibiBowater since June 2010. Mr. Garneau most recently served as President and CEO of Catalyst Paper Corporation. Prior to his tenure at Catalyst, Mr. Garneau was Executive Vice President, Operations at Domtar. He also held a variety of roles at Norampac, Copernic.com, Future Electronics, St. Laurent Paperboard, Finlay Forest Industries and Donohue Inc.

Jeffrey Hearn (Bluffton, SC) retired from International Paper in April 2009 where he served as an officer and held various general business management and technology management positions in the U.S. and Brazil. Prior to his return to the U.S. with International Paper, Mr. Hearn was President and Chief Executive Officer of Weldwood of Canada. Mr. Hearn was Chair of the Paperboard Mfg. and Converting Section of the American Forest Products Association, and former Vice-Chair of the Forest Products Association of Canada. He was also Industry CEO Representative for the BC Forest Products Forest Practices Reform Initiative.

Sarah Nash (New York, NY) is a board member and head of the Audit Committee of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and director of Knoll Inc., where she serves on the Compensation and Audit Committees. Ms. Nash is also a director of Blackbaud, Inc. and serves on its Nominating and Governance Committee. In August 2005, Ms. Nash retired as Vice Chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Investment Bank, where she was responsible for many of the firm's client relationships. Prior to these responsibilities, Ms. Nash was the Regional Executive and Co-Head of Investment Banking for North America.

Alain Rhéaume (Outremont, QC) is a Managing Partner at Trio Capital Inc. Most recently he was EVP & President of Fido, with Rogers Wireless - a role he assumed when Microcell was acquired by Rogers. With Microcell Telecom, Mr. Rhéaume was President and Chief Operating Officer and previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Microcell Telecommunications Inc. Previously, Mr. Rhéaume was Associate Deputy Minister of Finance from 1987 to 1992 and Deputy Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1996 in the Quebec Government. Mr. Rhéaume currently serves on the Canadian Public Accounting Board and the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Paul Rivett (Toronto, ON) has been a member of the AbitibiBowater board of directors since April 2008. He has been Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited since 2004 and also serves as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. Mr. Rivett was an attorney at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Toronto, Canada, before joining Fairfax in 2004. Mr. Rivett serves on the boards of Mega Brands Inc. and The Brick Group Income Fund.

Michael Rousseau (Oakville, ON/Montreal, QC) has been Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Air Canada since October 2007. Previous to Air Canada, he was President of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Prior to Joining HBC in 2001, he held senior executive financial positions at other large international corporations, including Moore Corporation in Chicago, Silcorp Limited and the UCS Group (a division of Imasco Limited). Mr. Rousseau currently serves on the board of Consumers' Waterheater Income Fund.

David Wilkins (Greenville, SC) was nominated by President George W. Bush to become the United States Ambassador to Canada in 2005, a position he held until January 20, 2009. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, Mr. Wilkins practiced law for 34 years in Greenville, South Carolina, and has extensive experience in civil litigation and appellate practice. Mr. Wilkins was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1980 and served 25 years, culminating in his service as Speaker of the House. Mr. Wilkins is currently a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP and chairs the Public Policy and International Law practice group. He also serves on the board of Porter Airlines.

"We are pleased to welcome this new board into the AbitibiBowater family," said David Paterson. "This group of individuals represents some of the top business leaders in North America, bringing a broad range of skills and expertise as well as an unwavering commitment to corporate governance and business ethics. We are very thankful for their interest in serving on the board and are confident that the new company will benefit from their vision and depth of experience."

"This has been a challenging period for the Company, and our current board of directors have provided important strategic direction and an uncompromised level of dedication throughout the credit protection process. Their diligence and support has been instrumental to the Company's transformation and restructuring efforts. As we move toward emergence this fall, I would like to once again thank each of them for their unwavering support. On behalf of myself, the Company and all AbitibiBowater stakeholders, we are sincerely grateful," stated Richard Evans.

Source: AbitibiBowater

Now that the extreme fire risk has eased, the Canfor workers and contractors that were pulled from the bush can now head back to work.

Workers were pulled from the areas around Vanderhoof and Houston and from Prince George to Mackenzie.

Read more:
Canfor workers return to work now that wildfire situation is not as intense (HqPrinceGeorge.com)

Tolko Industries Inc. is extending its curtailments at its Soda Creek and Armstrong stud operations in British Columbia.

The curtailments will continue until September 6. After that time, a restart will be reconsidered on a week to week basis.

The mills have been shut down since August 23, affected 315 employees.

Poor market conditions are to blame for the curtailment.

Source: Random Lengths WoodWire

NewPage Corporation has announced the election of Chan W. Galbato to the Board of Directors of NewPage and its affiliates as chairman of the Board, effective August 25, 2010.

Mr. Galbato takes over the chairman role from Robert L. Nardelli, who was elected chairman of the Board of NewPage and its affiliates on June 11, 2010 and who will remain on the Board as a director.

Mr. Nardelli, who also serves as chief executive officer of Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC (COAC), an affiliate of the majority owner of NewPage, said that, "Chan's appointment as chairman marks the end of a three-month transition during which the Board changed several top executives, including the CEO, implemented aggressive cost-reduction actions, and initiated efforts to improve customer service and profit margins. With the recent appointment of George Martin as president and chief executive officer, and now the addition of Chan as chairman, we are confident that we have the right team in place to execute our business plan."

Mr. Galbato is a senior operating executive of COAC and a director of the Brady Corporation. Prior to COAC, Mr. Galbato owned and managed CWG Hillside Investments LLC, a consulting business providing operational and strategic turnaround expertise to CEOs of portfolio-based companies. Before that, Mr. Galbato was president and chief executive officer of the Controls Group of businesses for Invensys plc. He was president of Home Services as well as president of the commercial distribution arm of companies for The Home Depot. In addition, Mr. Galbato served as president and chief executive officer of Armstrong Floor products and chief executive officer of Choice Parts LLC, a joint-venture auto parts locator and catalog business. Earlier in his career, Mr. Galbato spent 14 years with General Electric Company, holding several leadership and finance positions within their various industrial divisions (including Transportation Systems, Aircraft Engines, Medical Systems and A ppliances), as well as serving as president and chief executive officer, Coregis Insurance Company, a G.E. Capital Company.

Mr. Galbato holds a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the State University of New York.

Source: NewPage

EACOM Timber Corporation has posted a loss of $2.5 million in its latest quarter, compared to a loss of $205,000 a year ago. (The quarter results do not include any operations of the acquired Forest Products Business because acquisition was completed on June 30, 2010, the quarter end.)

This increase was due mainly to higher professional and due diligence fees, travel expenses and Big River Sawmill holding costs for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.

The quarter was highlighted by the closing of the $145 million private placement financing and the acquisition of Domtar's Forest Products Business on June 30, 2010. EACOM acquired seven sawmills, a 66.7% equity interest in an eighth sawmill, a remanufacturing facility and a 50% interest in a second remanufacturing facility. As of July 1, 2010, EACOM became a manufacturer, marketer and distributer of lumber, chips and wood-based value-added products as well as the manager of the related forest resources. The sawmills have an annual production capacity of approximately 890 million board feet and an annual allowable cut of 3.5 million cubic metres of timber.

The total consideration paid was cash of approximately $102 million and EACOM common shares valued at approximately $27 million (approximately 48 million common shares). The preliminary fair value allocation to net assets was $121 million, net of approximately $8 million in cash included in the acquisition. The total acquisition related expenses were approximately $1.4 million for the quarter. Consolidated cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2010, was $42.9 million following completion of the financing (net of financing expenses) and acquisition.

Source: EACOM Timber

The cost of fighting forest fires in British Columbia this year has topped $170 million.

As of yesterday, the fires had burned 322,349 hectares in B.C. More than half of that amount was in the Cariboo Fire Centre.

There are no more evacuation orders in effect.

For more information on the current status of the fires in British Columbia, visit:
http://www.bcforestfireinfo.gov.bc.ca/

Fraser Papers Inc.Fraser Papers Inc. announced today that the financial statements for the interim period ended July 3, 2010, including the related management discussion and analysis, and CEO and CFO certifications will not be filed by the September 1, 2010 due date.

Fraser Papers remains under creditor protection pursuant to the provisions of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, with its stay of proceedings having been extended by the court to October 29, 2010.

Fraser Papers is working diligently to finalize the accounting for certain restructuring transactions and will file the Required Documents as soon as is practicable.

Source: Fraser Papers

Terrace Bay Pulp is still putting the pieces together so that they can except from creditor protection and restart their idled mill.

Right now, the company is aiming to emerge from their protection period between September 5 to 10.

The company is working with a new lender so they can receive an asset backed loan that will provide them with operational funding to restart the mill.

Terrace Bay Pulp recently dropped the lender they had been working with over the last 2 months because it looked like that lender would cause the company further delays.

The Superior Court of Justice has given the company an extension of their creditor protection period - until September 17.

Sixty employees are back at work in Terrace Bay already, with another 400 workers ready to receive their callback notice in the next two weeks.

Read more:
Terrace Bay Pulp closes in on funding from lender (The Chronicle Journal)

The Atikokan, Ontario coal-fired power generation station has been given the go-ahead to convert to a biomass driven station.

The province of Ontario has announced that the Ontario Power Authority has been directed to negotiate a deal to purchase power from Atikokan.

The conversion to biomass will take 3 years and will create 200 construction jobs.

Many of the 90 jobs already at the power generating station will be saved.

20-25 jobs at a nearby pellet plant will be created to produce the biomass to create the electricity.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new future for the Atikokan plant and the community,” said Energy Minister Brad Duguid in a release issued Thursday. “With its conversion to biomass, we’re helping to build a made-in-Ontario industry, adding a new source of clean energy and supporting local jobs.”

Source:
Atikokan gets go-ahead for biomass conversion (TbNewsWatch)

Norampac is about to begin construction on a million dollar expansion at its corrugated packing plant in St. Marys, Ontario.

Located near Stratford in Perth County, St. Marys town council approved a site plan agreement with Norampac last week that will see a 15,000 square foot addition constructed on Norampac's facility.

The expansion will eventually house a new multimillion dollar, state of the art, highspeed Mitsubishi printing press - the first one of its kind in Canada. The press is capable of printing in 4 colours.

Steve Cousins, plant manager in St. Marys, said the new printing press will likely be installed by next summer.

Source:
Million-dollar baby (The Stratford Beacon Herald)

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is pleased with the recently announced deal that will see Canada pay AbitibiBowater $130 million to settle the pending trade war over the province's action to seize the company's assets.

Premier Williams said his provincial government will not be on the hook to pay any of the $130 million.

"We're very, very pleased," Williams said, "If you [have] a couple of days, I can tell you all the reasons why Newfoundland and Labrador is not being treated unfairly here, and I'm not being flip with you, I'm just being quite honest," Williams told reporters on Wednesday. "We make a huge contribution to Canada and I've said it time and time again, through our natural resources and through everything we do."

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (CEP) says it's pleased to see the federal government and Abitibi Bowater reach a deal on on the company's assets in this province, however the deal means little for the AbitibiBowater employees in Newfoundland who are still out of work. Gary Healey of the CEP did say, though, it may be new money for the company and it should be used for pension shortfalls.

Sources:
Williams Pleased Feds Settling with AbitibiBowater (VOCM)
N.L. not on hook for Abitibi payout: Williams (CBC)

The fire at Peace Valley OSB in Fort St. John, British Columbia broke out in the blending area of the plant around 10pm on Monday night.

Firefighters brought the fire under control and it was extinguished by 3am. The employees of the mill were evacuated during the blaze as a precautionary measure due to the smoke.

There has been some damage to the equipment in the blending area, however the plant expects to be operational again by this weekend.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.

Source: Peace Valley OSB

AbitibiBowater won approval of a U.S. court today to borrow $1.35 billion to fund the company's exit from bankruptcy.

The Judge gave permission to borrow the funds after no objection to the financing proposal was received.

Units of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc, and Citigroup Inc. will be the agents for a $600 million asset-based loan and each will contribute $100 million, court papers show. The company will also seek to raise as much as $750 million through a notes offering in the capital markets.

Read more:
AbitibiBowater Wins Approval of $1.35 Billion Bankruptcy Exit Financing (Bloomberg)

A creditor of the White Birch Paper company, has complained about the auction of White Birch Paper's assets.

Service d'Impartition Industrial holds a $1.75 million construction lien on White Birch's FF Soucy plant in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, and is unhappy that the auction process would result in their company not recovering any of their unsecured debt.

The auction is suspended until the lead judge in the bankruptcy restructuring case returns from vacation Sept. 7.

Read more:
Quebec judge approves creditor's motion to delay sale of White Birch Paper (Canadian Press)