Pulp and paper priorities.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Cutting costs - Brief Article

Companies need to use imagination to cut costs, stay competitive

Pulp and paper companies of the 21st century need to make better use of existing resources and equipment if they want to remain profitable, forestry leaders say.

That advice was passed on to industry representatives of Northern Ontario's 16 pulp and paper mills during the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada's (PAPTAC) midwest branch annual conference held Sept. 20-22 in Thunder Bay.

Ajoy Chatterjee, midwest branch chair, says the event is "a world-class conference" that attracts top executives from pulp and paper mills in Northern Ontario and from abroad as well.

The program's sessions included industry developments, environmental issues and safety.

A president's panel, consisting of senior executives from some of the country's biggest mills, offered insight into the pulp and paper industry of the new millennium.

Alain Lemaire, president of Norampac Inc., which owns the former Domtar mill in Red Rock, Ont, was a panel member

In a phone interview following the conference, Lemaire says the forest products industry can no longer afford to continue on its current path. Companies need to cut costs to stay profitable.

"You can do that in different ways," Lemaire says. "With most of our facilities we have to do it a bit more...