Domtar Corp. continued its plan to diversify its product line this week by acquiring US-based EAM Corp., a company that mainly produces high quality absorbent composite materials.

The US$61 million acquisition will allow Domtar to have easy access to the core materials used in feminine hygiene, adult incontinence, baby diapers and other medical, health-care and performance packaging products.

The deal will not only provide Domtar with long-term research facilities, it will also “further differentiate our full line of adult incontinence products while integrating the best available technology to grow our existing businesses,” said president and CEO John Williams.

Branching out from traditional pulp and paper into a more diverse pulp sector that produces products such as fluff pulp, which is used for the products mentioned above, or dissolving pulp, which can be used to create textiles such as rayon, has been a vision espoused by many forestry sector professionals over the last few years.

For example, in a recent interview with The Sault Star, Glenn Clifford, a pulp and paper professional for over thirty years, credited companies with a forward-looking plan for helping a struggling industry survive.

“Are there ways of retooling mills and rethinking what we can do with those mills? Absolutely,” he said. “They’ve taken the initiative and invested in new ways of manufacturing product for different industries, and that’s important.”

In addition to adult incontinence products, Domtar designs, manufactures and markets a wide variety of fibre-based products, including communication papers, specialty and packaging papers and is the largest integrated marketer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America, reported Canadian Business.

SOURCES:
Canadian Business: “Domtar Diversifies Adult Incontinence Business With US$61 Million EAM Acquisition”
The Sault Star: “Canadian Mills Need To Retool, Says Paperworker”