• The Snowflake mill, producing 375,000 tonnes/year of recycled newsprint on two modern paper machines, is regarded as one of the lowest cost newsprint mills in North America. Snowflake will increase Catalyst's total newsprint production capacity to about 980,000 tonnes. The mill also houses a corrugating medium machine owned by Smurfit Stone Container Corp., which is operated by the Snowflake mill. The Apache Railway Co., a short-line railroad operating freight service between Snowflake, AZ, and Holbrook, AZ, is included in the transaction. Abitibi-Consolidated, which owned the mill originally, was made to divest it following the merger with Bowater.

Under a three-year contract, AbitibiBowater will provide about 40% of Snowflake's recycled fibre supply in the first year, decreasing in proportion over the life of the agreement. Catalyst intends to source the remainder of the mill's fibre requirements directly from the recycled fibre market in western North America.

• The $12-million capital upgrade at Port Alberni centers on increasing the capacity of the thermomechanical pulping facility and the restart, by mid-year, of the No. 4 paper machine.

The Catalyst board also approved a $14-million early retirement and severance package associated with a new labor agreement. Catalyst said this step follows months of discussions with community and local union leaders on actions required to improve the mill's business climate and cost competitiveness.

Catalyst indefinitely curtailed PM4 - its highest cost machine - on September 1, 2007. This followed repeated appeals to major stakeholders to change business conditions, including bringing the mill's property taxes in line with competitive jurisdictions. As the city's largest taxpayer, the Catalyst paper mill paid $7.1 million in 2007, approximately three times the Canadian average and more than twice the BC average in property tax per tonne. Port Alberni's city council has approved a gradual reduction of major industry property taxes over five years.