Cape Breton paper mill 'OK' for now: official

A paper plant in Cape Breton is running at full production, though concerns linger about its future and the hundreds of workers who rely on it.

NewPage Corporation took over the plant in Point Tupper from Stora Enso about a year ago. At the time, people in the area feared the U.S.-based company would close the operation.

Twelve months later, the plant remains in full swing, said company spokeswoman Patricia Dietz.

"So far, we're doing OK considering the volatile state of the marketplace right now," she said.

Dietz said the mill that produces newsprint and the one that produces paper for magazines are in full production. The company is even hiring workers to replace those who are retiring.

About 550 people are employed by the plant, though hundreds of others in spinoff jobs depend on it too.

Dietz said the lower Canadian dollar and the plant's modern machines are two big reasons the operation remains open, though the company is keeping a wary eye on global financial developments.

"As we all know, the markets for paper, like most other products, are very challenging these days and we have to carefully monitor the situation, not only week by week, but even day by day," she said.

Brent MacInnis, a forest contractor in Frenchvale, outside Sydney, said this uncertainty has prompted his company to cut back from two shifts to one.

"It's like the higher-up said at NewPage that nobody is exempt from the way the economy is going and there's nothing that's secure nowadays," said MacInnis, who does 85 per cent of his business with NewPage.

MacInnis said his crew will make do with aging equipment for the time being, but he would like to replace it if he learns the future of the mill is more secure.

NewPage announced last January it was closing mills in Maine, Wisconsin and Ohio, but would spare the Point Tupper plant from the axe.