$310 million investment in Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Tembec president and CEO James Lopez was joined in March in Témiscaming by Québec premier Jean Charest to announce a $310 million investment to bolster the company's position as a manufacturer of specialty cellulose.

Reproduced by kind permission of Tembec.

The refined pulp is sold as a building block for a variety of consumer products such as pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, textiles, plastics, and cosmetics. Global demand for these types of products is growing 4% to 5% a year.

A $75 million loan from the Government of Québec administered by Investissement Québec will help keep nearly 1,300 jobs in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue area. Under this loan, Tembec has also granted Investissement Québec a five-year option to purchase three million shares of Tembec at $7.00 per share.

The Tembec project comprises two phases. The $190 million first phase will entail modernizing the steam production facilities needed to manufacture specialty cellulose. It will consist of replacing three recovery boilers with a single boiler and adding a 50 megawatt turbine to convert steam into electricity. The $120 million second phase slated for 2014–2015 will allow the plant to increase its production capacity by 30,000 metric tons. The project will dramatically reduce Tembec's production costs and shore up its strategic position in the industry.

Tembec manufactures forest products such as lumber, pulp, specialty cellulose, coated bleached board, chemical products, and newsprint. It has operations in Canada and France. Its Québec facilities include an industrial complex in Témiscaming, a pulp plant in Matane, and three sawmills.