Burgo Announces Price Increase

British Columbia-based Catalyst Paper Corp. projects that a $56 million investment in a tissue-making machine at its Rumford mill would support 62 full-time jobs. The Bangor Daily News reported that Catalyst has applied for a $25 million loan through the Finance Authority of Maine's Major Business Expansion and for $12.7 million in state tax credits or taxpayer cash through the state's New Markets Capital Investment program, to help finance the machine. Catalyst plans to put in $13.9 million of its own money into the project.

The Green Valley Energie (GVE) joint venture, in which Norske Skog is a 10% minority equity holder, is ready to commence construction of a biomass boiler at the mill site of Norske Skog Golbey, France, following recent completion of debt financing. GVE is a biomass energy plant, which will produce electricity and heat from waste and residue materials. Electricity sale from GVE is ensured through a feed-in tariff contract, while steam will be used for Norske Skog's Golbey mill. "This energy project is one more milestone in the on-going transition of Norske Skog towards new growth markets and sustainable energy. The biomass boiler will ensure a stable, long-term supply of cost-competitive and 100 percent renewable steam as an alternative to fossil energy sources like natural gas, shielding us from increasingly volatile energy markets," says Sven Ombudstvedt, CEO of Norske Skog.

A judge in British Columbia has granted Northern Pulp creditor protection until the end of 2020 and approved an interim financing agreement that will see the mill receive $15 million from third-party lenders. Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick delivered her decision Thursday in B.C Supreme Court via teleconference following two days of arguments. The ruling means the mill, which was facing a cash crunch, now has the liquidity to get it to the end of the year as it works toward completing environmental cleanup work required by the Nova Scotia government at a site in Pictou County and works on a restructuring effort in hopes of eventually reopening the operation.