Catalyst Paper Corporation released its second quarter results July 28. While the company reported another quarter with significant losses, Joe Nemeth, Catalyst president and CEO said he is expecting the company to turn the corner with the bulk of the cost for its US expansion complete and its Canadian operations’ initiatives tracking well.
Catalyst noted that its Powell River revitalization program is tracking ahead of plan with its goal to improve cost competitiveness. It will be rolled out to its US divisions in the second half of 2015.
Catalyst recorded a net loss of $32 million and a net loss before specific items of $13.8 million in Q2, compared to net earnings of $22.2 million, and a net loss before specific items of $12.6 million in the previous quarter.
The company said that these losses resulted from one-time events which included upgrades at the company’s Rumford mill in Maine, costs associated with Crofton mill’s oxygen plant outage, market curtailments at the Port Alberni, Powell River and Rumford mills, restructuring costs related to training and staffing changes as part of Powell River’s revitalization plan and legal fees associated with addressing the duty petition filed against Catalyst.
The company is one of four Canadian paper producers the US Department of Commerce (DOC) looked at it the duty petition. American paper producers argue that the Canadian companies are being unfairly subsidized with cheaper electricity, a claim Catalyst rejects.
The company is seeking a review of the decision and said the department did not look at each company individually in its investigation.
DOC’s final ruling is expected in November and an 11.19 per cent duty could be in place by December on the company’s supercalendered paper, glossy paper used for catalogues and magazines.
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