Shuttered Old Town Pulp Mill Ready to Restart Operations

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Old Town, Maine pulp mill, currently owned by ND Paper LLC-the U.S. subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited, is set to restart operations next month, after remaining closed for almost three and a half years, says media reports. The formal reopening ceremony will be held during the month of August this year.

As per reports, the management is in all efforts to give new life to the mill by fixing the existing equipment and bringing in new ones needed to make the facility running. It had promised to restart operations at the mill in early-2019, at the time of purchase of the mill from OTM Holdings, LLC in an all-cash deal in October last year. Earlier in February this year, ND Paper had announced that it has fired up a boiler at the facility.

The company has restored over 100 jobs at the mill and has also made fresh recruitments. Several contractors have already been engaged at the mill site. The company expressed pleasure in announcing the decision, which will likely revitalize the community and bring back some life into the state.

At the time of acquisition, ND Paper had announced major restructuring plans to boost production and minimize manufacturing costs at the mill. It had made clear its intentions to change the production mix from hardwood kraft to softwood kraft pulp and eliminate bleaching operations. It had also committed phased capital investments at the facility, aimed at increasing demand for maine wood, which in turn will benefit loggers and log truckers in the region.