Harmac Pacific pulp mill (Nanaimo, British Columbia)

Canada / British Columbia / Nanaimo / Nanaimo, British Columbia / Wave Place, 1000
 paper mill, pulp and paper industry

Nanaimo Forest Products' Harmac Pacific mill is a three line Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp mill located on the east coast of Vancouver Island near Nanaimo, British Columbia. The mill is one of Canada's largest market pulp producers with a rated annual capacity of 400,000 metric tons, though it currently produces at a reduced level.

The mill produces high quality kraft pulps made from custom blends of Douglas fir, western hemlock, balsam and western red cedar. The pulp is sold in Europe, North America, the Pacific Rim and Latin America. With its strategic location on a deep water port, the mill is well situated for cost effective export of pulp and receipt of wood fiber. Harmac produces a specialty pulp made of red cedar chips, which commands a higher price and is ideal for making breathable surgical gowns.

Nanaimo Forest Products is jointly owned by the mill's workers and managers, and three private partners (each of which holds 25%). The partnership bought the mill for $13.2 million in August 2008 after Pope & Talbot went into receivership, and production restarted in October 2008. Under its new ownership model, Harmac has shaved more than $100 per tonne off production costs. After restarting a second line in September 2009, annual production has increased to 331,000 tonnes and employment has reached 265.

With federal government green funding, the company upgraded its power boiler, making the mill energy self-sufficient using biofuels such as wood waste and lignin to produce heat and electricity. Harmac Pacific sells surplus electricity to BC Hydro.

www.harmacpacific.com/index.php
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   49°8'10"N   123°51'30"W

Comments

  • I used to work 1973 till 31st Dec 2006.
  • I HOPE THIS MILL RESUMES OPERATION, MAKES LOTS OF MONEY, AND PLAGUES THE FUTURE-TO-BE RESIDENTS OF CABLE BAY DEVELOPMENT WITH STINKY SMOKE AND LOUD NOISE.
This article was last modified 8 years ago