http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2012-01-05/article-2855999/NewPage-could-be-in-production-by-late-spring,-says-bidder/1
As reported yesterday, Stern Partner’s Pacific West Commercial was selected as the final bidder in the sale of the NewPage Post Hawkesbury mill. The facility has the capacity to produce approximately a quarter of the Supercalendered paper used in the U.S. Ron Stern, president of Stern Partners, had an interview with the Cape Breton Post, the newspaper serving the region in which the mill is located. He confirmed, as reported yesterday, that energy and labor cost negotiations are key to restarting: “There’s good reason to do it [restart] as soon as possible…It’s a terrific machine, the physical plant there is really world-class. It’s probably as good a machine as there is in North America…hopefully we can come up with a plan that also makes it very competitive.” Stern said it will be necessary to operate it at the lowest cost possible. That will include working with Nova Scotia Power in reviewing the mill’s operations to see how it can reduce its electricity costs, which amounted to $100 million last year. The company is not willing to take on unfunded pension liabilities for the mill’s four plans: “The economics don’t work ... the cost to the mill of funding over $100 million in unfunded pension liabilities would just overwhelm it, it would more than set off most of the gains we’re trying to make.” Regarding fiber, he said “Talks with the province regarding access to Crown lands are going well.” Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker said Wednesday the company could potentially be given access to less land than the 600,000 hectares that NewPage managed.
