Maine mill accepts N.B. wood again, but producers still struggle to stay afloat
CBC
Equipment at Woodland Pulp in Maine roared back to life in mid-December after a 60 day pause in operations, and now one of the state’s largest mills is again accepting wood from New Brunswick producers.
“On Monday, we restarted purchasing fibre for the mill,” company spokesperson Scott Beal said.
“We're back in the market. We are bringing in some fibre from suppliers in Canada, hardwood and chips.”
The general manager of the Carleton Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board says the news is welcome but not nearly enough to help embattled private woodlot owners in the province.
“Everything is good news at this point, but it is not as good as it could be," Kim Jensen said. "We're not back where we were."
With sales down by about two-thirds from last year, Jensen said some woodlot owners are deciding to pack it up, while others struggle on.
“We have had some older ones who've left, they've just, they've had enough and they've left,” she said.
“The people who have invested in the business, have bought processors and forwarders, they have to stay in business. And if you have $1,000,000 worth of equipment there, your payments are $40,000 to $60,000 a month and you have to work. You can't just go somewhere else and get a job.”
Duty rates on New Brunswick wood were set at 35 per cent in September, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on lumber imports.
The sudden increase was too much for Woodland Pulp to bear. The mill relied on New Brunswick wood for about a third of its supply prior to October.
"It certainly adds cost to the business and, you know, like other wood users, I mean we're always looking and hoping and trying to source fibre at the least cost," Beal told CBC News in October.
The Baileyville-based mill has rehired all of the 144 people laid off during its two month shut-down, and Beal said it will likely take some time to ramp up to accept the amount of wood it previously did.
And with the difficult and uncertain tariff environment, Beal said, it’s hard to say how long the mill would be able to continue purchasing Canadian wood.
“It's a very challenging pulp market,” he said.
The City of Toronto’s 2026 budget will prioritize affordability and will include a lower tax increase than the city has seen in recent years, Mayor Olivia Chow said ahead of the budget’s reveal Thursday morning.
Memorial University political scientist Kelly Blidook pulled no punches when asked what cost the Liberals the 2025 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador.
It’s a mystery connected to Manitoulin Island and the north shore of Lake Huron that police thought they had solved five times, but each time they were thwarted.
In a break from recent tradition, Nova Scotia Power’s most senior officials are not participating in the public hearing that will determine whether many of their customers see rates jump this year and next.
When a historic bell was stolen from a Fredericton church after Christmas, a security camera from a neighbouring property caught a photo of a pickup truck.
While kids across Quebec return to school after the holidays, nine-year-old Ellie isn’t among them.
The superintendent of a Manitoba school division where a student was attacked with a sword last year said several steps had already been taken to improve safety before the province ordered all divisions to review their safety plans.
Two people who filed formal complaints with Moose Jaw police about the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw, Sask. are asking why the police force publicly said it had found no record of any such complaints.
The Charlottetown Farmers’ Market has secured its new, temporary location – and it will be open this Saturday.
Utility officials in southern Alberta’s mid-sized cities are planning system upgrades to avoid major water line breaks like one that have forced Calgary to implement water-use restrictions for the second time in two years.
A civil liberties advocate is raising concerns after a Surrey city councillor and mayoral candidate said she wants the city’s police to have increased access to the city's traffic cameras.
Following an inquest into the death of a Niagara man killed by police, a jury has recommended better support for family members, witnesses and officers involved in fatalities.
Some homeowners and Realtors are accusing a private equity firm that owns mobile home parks in Ontario of using questionable and illegal tactics to raise lot rents beyond what many can afford, making these once affordable homes nearly impossible to sell.