Cascades to fully close St. Helens, Oregon, tissue plant

After announcing in April the restructuring of its tissue business, Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based paper and packaging producer Cascades Inc. will move forward with a complete closure of its St. Helens, Oregon, tissue plant, with operations officially ceasing at the beginning of October.

Jean-David Tardif, Cascades Tissue Group president and chief operating officer, says recent market conditions on the West Coast as well as a significant decline in demand for brown recycled products manufactured at the St. Helens site have compromised the long-term financial viability of the plant.

“Consequently, we made the decision to end the plant’s operations,” he adds.

Cascades originally announced it would shut its virgin tissue paper machine in St. Helens when it announced the closures of what it said were two underperforming sites: one in Barnwell, South Carolina, and the other in Scappoose, Oregon.

The equipment slated for the initial closure had a combined total annual rated capacity of 92,000 short tons of tissue and 10 million cases of converted product. Cascades says, however, it had been operating below capacity, producing 56,000 short tons of tissue and just 5 million cases of converted product last year.

The annual capacity of the second St. Helens paper machine is 50,000 short tons of brown, 100 percent recycled tissue paper. Cascades says these tons, however, are not integrated into its network, so the closure will not impact its other operations.

The company also says the move further simplifies its operational platform by concentrating a majority of its tissue product operations at core, geographically well-positioned sites that offer opportunities for future development.

The closure will affect 75 employees, bringing the total number of employees impacted to 375.

“With fewer sites, better resource allocation and a strong business strategy, we believe this decision will position Cascades to create more value for its shareholders and customers,” Cascades CEO Mario Plourde said in April.