Paperboard industry veteran Jay Gurandiano, the prospective new owner of the closed AbitibiBowater Inc. Fort William newsprint mill in Thunder Bay, Ont., plans to convert the mill into a producer of recycled medium, reports Canada’s Chronicle Journal. However, he is still working on a new collective agreement with the union, scheduled for Dec. 18-20. He needs a new contract agreement before he can approach potential investors, says union representative Marvin Pupeza of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).

Gurandiano has a $50 million (U.S.) plan to retrofit the AbitibiBowater newsprint mill as an 80-employee recycled medium mill, owned by would-be buyer Superior Packaging. The shuttered, 300-worker facility stopped production in May and is now closed. Superior Packaging plans to use old newspaper and old corrugated containers (OCC) to make its medium.

Pupeza expressed enthusiasm that management for the proposed medium mill is already moving forward while CEP officials prepare to work out a new collective agreement. He says that Gurandiano is likely looking for a long-term agreement, noting that although contracts at containerboard mills usually provide less pay than those at newsprint mills, benefits are decent. CEP’s five-year contract at the closed mill would not have expired until May 2009.

Pupeza says the union thinks Gurandiano has a sound business plan, adding the businessman has a letter of intent to purchase the Fort William mill from AbitibiBowater. AbitibiBowater hasn’t commented on the Superior Packaging proposal, but Pupeza says it is widely known that the company has been seeking a buyer for the Fort William mill for the past two years.

In the mid-1990s Gurandiano served as president and chief executive officer of St. Laurent Paperboard, Montreal. From Sept. 1986 to Jan. 1994 he worked for Avenor.OBM

Callout: Superior Packaging plans to use old newspaper and old corrugated containers (OCC) to make its medium.