Kruger to shutter newsprint machine, deinked pulp operations

Paper company cites slow demand as reason for the closure.

Kruger Inc., a Montreal-based paper and forest products company, has announced plans to indefinitely halt production on its No. 1 paper machine and deinked pulp operations at its Brompton newsprint mill in Breakyville, Quebec. The closure, to take place effective Nov. 14, 2014, will reduce the company’s annual newsprint production by 100,000 metric tons, about 10 percent of Kruger’s annual newsprint production.

Following the shutdown, Kruger will operate two paper machines at the company’s Brompton mill.

In opting to indefinitely close the machine and pulping operations Kruger cites the steady decline in newsprint demand throughout North America as the main reason for the closure. Recent reports peg newsprint demand in North America falling by 10 percent in the past year.