Northwood Pulp Mill will resume production on Monday, July 17, after production was temporarily curtailed on Thursday, the company announced.
On Tuesday, Canfor Pulp Products announced it was curtailing production at the mill due to the limited storage space for pulp products that cannot be transported to the company’s overseas markets during the B.C. port workers strike.
The B.C. Maritime Employers Association said work would begin again at B.C. ports with Thursday's 4:30 p.m. Pacific-time shift, confirming an earlier Tweet from its dispatch centre. The employers association said earlier it had reached a four-year agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, which represents 7,400 workers in the job action that began July 1, The Canadian Press reported.
The mill employs roughly 475 people, and the majority of the employees will be impacted by the curtailment, a Canfor Pulp spokesperson said in an email on Tuesday.
"We will have a skeleton crew working to ensure the safety and protection of the mill and they will also continue to receive chips and hog," the spokesperson said. "We regret our Northwood employees are being impacted as a result of the labour dispute at B.C. ports."
The curtailment was expected to reduce the company’s production of market kraft pulp by 11,000 tonnes per week.
- With files from The Canadian Press
