Wood market could jeopardize mill sale
Wood supply and the price of wood could keep Hong Kong investors from buying the Katahdin Paper Co. mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket, local and industry officials said.
Rep. Herbert Clark, D-Millinocket, recently told the town council that a shortage of wood in the area was impacting International Grand Investors Corp.'s negotiations to buy the shuttered mills, the Bangor Daily News reported. Town Manager Eugene Conlogue told councilors that negotiations with the company are continuing despite "a couple of snags," while a spokesman for Gov. Paul LePage and officials from Grand Investors declined to comment on a potential deal. News broke earlier this month that the company, which owns the former Domtar mill in Baileyville, was interested in buying the Katahdin mills from Brookfield Asset Management for $1. The company is part of a Hong Kong-based holding company and is based in Delaware.
Meanwhile, two industry leaders expressed skepticism that a lack of wood would derail the deal. Keith Van Scotter, co-owner of Lincoln Paper & Tissue, and Maine Pulp and Paper Association President John Williams told the paper that the problem is more likely the high price of available wood stocks, not the overall supply.
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