AV Birla group to acquire pulp mill in Canada

The Aditya Birla group and Canada-based Tembec have signed a
framework agreement with the province of New Brunswick for the acquisition of the St. Anne Nackawic Pulp Mill.

The acquisition will be made through a joint venture between the Aditya Birla group and Tembec in which the former will be the majority equity holder. Operations would be managed jointly by the Aditya Birla group and Tembec.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla group, said: "This move is consistent with our group's strategy of reinforcing our competitive edge in the cellulosic, man-made fibre sector through setting up fully integrated operations virtually from the forest-to-fabric stage.

"The group's vision in the viscose staple bibre (VSF) business is to
maintain its global leadership in this segment.  To do so entailed
securing access to good quality pulp - vital for its fibre business.
This agreement is a step up  in that direction."

"We are excited by the potential of not only expanding our position in
dissolving pulps, but also increasing our presence in the province of
New Brunswick," Shailendra K Jain, director (fibre and pulp
business) of the AV Birla group. "Our positive experience in Atholville has been based on a solid partnership with Tembec, a well trained and dedicated team in the mill and a positive and supportive business climate here in New Brunswick.  We see the same potential for the Nackawic mill and look forward to working with the province, the community and the workforce to create a stable and competitive site."

Work would begin soon after closing of the transaction of the conversion of the mill to allow it a product mix of paper, dissolving and specialty pulps.  The mill's current capacity is 2.8 lakh tonne per annum of paper grade pulp. After conversion, it would be able to produce 1.5 lakh tpa of dissolving grade pulp.