Maine paper mill stops accepting N.B. softwood lumber

One of the largest mills in Maine has stopped accepting softwood lumber from New Brunswick.

A pulp and paper mill in Maine has stopped accepting softwood lumber from New Brunswick due to mounting tariffs.

Wooldland Pulp in Baileyville, Maine, is the largest employer in Washington County, just across the border from New Brunswick’s Charlotte County.

Last week, operators announced the mill would “pause” operations from late November to Dec. 17. The company said 144 workers would be laid off temporarily.

In an interview with News Center Maine, mill spokesperson Scott Beal said an additional 10 per cent tariff increase on softwood lumber in October forced the mill to stop accepting Canadian lumber, disrupting normal operations.

“We had to stop taking softwood lumber coming in from the province so we could understand the dynamics around the tariffs,” Beal said. “There was a lot of confusion at first.”

While Woodland Pulp is scheduled to resume operations in mid-December, there’s no timeline for when Canadian softwood lumber will be accepted at the mill.

New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister John Herron said private woodlot areas in southwestern New Brunswick would likely experience the most fallout from Woodland Pulp’s decision, but didn’t note any current impacts. Overall, Herron said the province had fared well so far against mounting softwood lumber tariffs.

“Having larger entities like Group Labelle, Interfor, and JDI, with other large mills as well, they’re quite resilient. This is the group that was able to come out of the 2008 downturns after there were a lot of consolidations,” said Herron. “But clearly this is not a sustainable model going forward. We need a negotiated settlement between our federal and U.S. counterparts.”

Earlier this week, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated a new financial aid package for softwood lumber would be coming from Ottawa.

In August, the Carney government announced a $1.25-billion support package for the softwood lumber industry.

New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon said smaller sawmill operators need help now.

“Their profit margin is thin,” said Coon. “They don’t operate at the scale of the big super-Irving sawmills, which can accommodate some greater financial stress. But the smaller ones? No.”

-With files from The Canadian Press and Drew Peters of News Center Maine

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