Fortress Paper Ltd.

In a previous article, we told you a little about the history of the Thurso pulp mill. This article provides you with some more information about the facility, including some technical specs for the Western Quebec mill. The recent arrival of large digesters floating down the Ottawa River was a sign that the conversion process at Thurso’s pulp mill was about to get underway. The digesters are key components to the transformation of pulp i...

Two weeks ago, we wrote about two large digesters arriving in Thurso by barge after a near two-month trek from Finland.  The digesters will be installed at Fortress Paper's Thurso pulp mill, and will be key to converting the mill from a northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp producer to a specialized dissolving pulp producer. The digesters, in which wood pulp is cooked and compartmentalized into cellulose, are a key element in the process of ...

This week, barges carrying more than 100 tonnes of Finnish-made equipment turned heads as they floated up the Ottawa River on their way to Thurso, Quebec. The barges – which are transporting digesters – left Finland in early August and going to be installed at the Thurso mill over the coming months and are the first major steps taken to convert the mill from a kraft pulp producer to a dissolving pulp producer. The full conversion is exp...

Driven by the imperatives of globalized economics and digital technology, Ottawa's pulp-and-paper heritage has been reduced to a remnant. The forestry industry that built the Ottawa-Gatineau economy appears to be on its last legs. Hammered by the Internet's growing grip on personal communications, the rich Canadian dollar and intense competition, the forestry industry continues to slash operations in the hopes of finding a smaller, profitab...

Located in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of Western Quebec, about 35km from Gatineau, QC on the Ottawa River, the Thurso pulp mill is a staple in Thurso, Quebec. The Thurso mill dates back to the 1950s and was a major force in the pulp and paper industry in the Quebec/Ottawa region. Today, it continues the tradition. Employing nearly 300 people, the pulp mill currently manufactures high quality northern b...

For contrarian Chad Wasilenkoff, a nose for overlooked potential led him to a pulp mill in Thurso. Bert Hill reports for The Ottawa Citizen. OTTAWA — From golf courses to art auctions and old mill towns, value can hide in unexpected places. Just ask Chad Wasilenkoff, the 38-year-old chief executive officer of Fortress Paper Ltd. When he was a child in Calgary he built a savings account fishing golf balls out of ponds and buying and sel...

Thanks to their recent acquisition of a pulp mill in Thurso, Quebec, Vancouver-based Fortress Paper Ltd. is reporting an increase in adjusted second quarter profits. Fortress purchased the nearly bankrupt mill from Fraser Papers Inc. in March with the intent of transforming it into a specialized dissolving pulp producer. Though some of the conversions have been started – three massive digesters are currently en route from Finland – Fortres...

For the town of Thurso, Que., a shot at economic renewal is literally arriving on massive barges in the Ottawa River. Next month, the first shipment of bulky industrial equipment from Finland is scheduled to arrive in Thurso, in western Quebec. It will be used to transform the town’s hardwood pulp mill into a facility that makes a key ingredient used in the manufacture of rayon, which is seeing big spikes in demand in Asia and elsewhere....

A recent article in The Ottawa Citizen taking an in-depth look at the status of the logging, timber, lumber and pulp-and-paper mills along the Ottawa River valley laments the seeming demise of a once booming Canadian industry. “Driven by the imperatives of globalized economics and digital technology, Ottawa’s pulp-and-paper heritage has been reduced to a remnant,” writes Robert Sibley. One of the major reasons for this decline is the ...

Though the mill in Thurso, Quebec is currently a northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp mill and will be transformed into a specialized dissolving pulp mill by 2011, processed pulp isn’t the only commodity produced by the mill. At several different stages in the pulping process, energy is harnessed and recycled, saving the mill both time and money. Here are four ways energy is reduced, reused and recycled at the Thurso pulp mill: #1 –...