Mercer International to Take Downtime at Celgar Pulp Mill Due to Lack of Rail Service

The Celgar mill, located in Castlegar, BC, Canada, produces approximately 500,000 tonnes per year of Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft pulp.

July 24, 2023 - Mercer International on June 21 announced the temporary curtailment of operations at its Celgar pulp mill located in Castlegar, BC, Canada, including wood acceptance.

The curtailment is currently scheduled to become effective July 29, 2023, until August 28, 2023.

This temporary curtailment results from a significant loss of rail transport capacity resulting from the Vancouver port job action. The job action has led to a complete halt in railcar circulation, severely impacting the mill's ability to transport pulp.

President and CEO, Juan Carlos Bueno, expressed, "Regrettably, we are not able to run the mill economically until rail operations resume regular services," said Juan Carlos Bueno, President and CEO of Mercer International. "We currently expect the curtailment to persist for about a month. We understand the inconvenience and difficulties this may cause our various partners and stakeholders, and we will strive to keep all affected parties informed of any updates as the situation develops.

"We truly appreciate the understanding and support of our employees, contractors, customers, suppliers, and communities during this challenging period and are diligently seeking alternative solutions to minimize any further disruptions," Bueno added.

Mercer International is a global forest products company with operations in Germany, the USA and Canada, with an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of pulp, 960 million board feet of lumber, 210 thousand cubic meters of cross-laminated timber, 45 thousand cubic meters of glulam, 17 million pallets and 150,000 metric tonnes of wood pellets.

SOURCE: Mercer International Inc.