Domtar, the company that owns the Prince Albert pulp mill, is in talks to sell the inactive plant to a third party that does not produce softwood pulp, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
"We’re not in discussions with Paper Excellence and we’re in discussions with other parties concerning the reuse or repurposing of the mill," said public affairs manager Bonny Skene.
Selling the mill to a pulp company — such as Paper Excellence — is not on the agenda because it would increase competition for Domtar, said Skene.
No details on the third party were given and Skene said demolition is set to take place in early 2011.
Domtar has the second-largest production capacity for freesheet paper in the world and is the largest producer in North America.
"Based on our discussions that are ongoing with the province, we’re now planning to proceed with demolition if discussions with the province or the other third party don’t bear fruit," Skene said.
Earlier this week, members from the Prince Albert branch of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union met to hash out details of a collective agreement offering workers a bigger role in management of the mill. After a weekend of meetings, the union accepted the deal.
"We weren’t interested in entering into talks until (Paper Excellence) felt that they were close to being able to put the deal together. Paper Excellence assured us they thought they were there," western region CEP representative Jim Dixon said Tuesday.
"We didn’t want to put our members and the community of Prince Albert through false hopes."
Paper Excellence owns three mills in Canada — two in British Columbia and one in Saskatchewan. Dixon said the union worked with the company on both B.C. deals and is confident in Paper Excellence’s word that a deal was close before it brought an agreement to the union and to Prince Albert.
Peter Wardhana, director of Paper Excellence, is out of the country and not available for comment.
Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd told reporters at the legislature the government had been in discussions with Domtar for the last three years and among the options talked about was the sale of the facility as a pulp mill.
He said the company did have "some issues with different things," but the government remained optimistic about the possibility of a sale.
"I would hope that we can be a sort of force for good as the government here to facilitate some sort of transaction," said Boyd. "I would say I don’t think this is over by any stretch of the imagination," he added.
When asked whether Domtar’s statement was simply a bargaining position, Boyd said the company was "certainly a tough negotiator."
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