Corner Brook Pulp and Paper containers

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Begins Shipping Project Out of Port of Corner Brook

May 15, 2020 - Corner Brook Pulp and Paper in Newfoundland, Canada, will now be able to access markets pretty much anywhere around the globe as a partner in an international shipping project operating out of the Port of Corner Brook.

The $11-million project is a result of a partnership between the Corner Brook Port Corporation, Logistec Stevedoring Inc., and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, which is the base business in the effort, with support from the federal government.

“You have to have an initial customer to ensure that the business piece works,” said Darren Pelley, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s general manager, of the role of the mill.

The arrival of a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) vessel at the port on Tuesday, May 12 with 350 empty shipping containers signaled the official start of the project.

Starting in the next few days at least 200 of those containers will be moved to the east side of the mill where they will be loaded with paper and then moved back to the dock area of the port. When the next MSC ship arrives, the containers will be loaded onto it with plans for the first shipment, destined for China and India, to leave the port on June 1.

Pelley said the mill has a target to ship out a minimum of 350 containers per month. Where that paper goes will fluctuate depending on the markets and in the future will include Asia, South American, Latin American, and Europe. The bonus for the mill is that it will be able to expand on where it can serve.

“What we’ll be able to do now is we’ll be able to access the best markets throughout the globe that were not available to us before,” said Pelley.

Traditionally, the mill shipped the bulk of its paper via paper carriers that arrive directly at the mill. There was a paper carrier at the mill on Tuesday and Pelley said that will continue to happen.

Between 35 to 40 per cent of its paper was trucked to Halifax to be shipped through international containers there. The ratio of what was trucked was driven by the availability of trucking on that route.

“Up to this week our quantity of paper shipped by international roots was constrained by the availability of travel to Halifax,” said Pelley.

Now the company will be able to increase the ratio of what goes out directly from the mill with the service through the port. That means it will have to truck a smaller amount to Halifax and this will also result in reducing the transit time.

Read the complete sstory at Saltwater Network