By Leo Quigley, AJOTCatalyst Paper, located on British Columbia’s Fraser River, is one of the province’s largest breakbulk operations, receiving paper from four locations within the province and shipping to roughly 300 cities worldwide. The company produces and distributes paper for businesses such as newspaper publishing firms, magazine publishers and telephone book production houses on the US West Coast, Canada, Europe and Asia.
With plants in Elk Falls, Crofton, Port Alberni and Powell River, BC and a recycling plant in Coquitlam, BC, Catalyst prides itself on being the largest mechanical paper producer in Western North America, the largest producer of telephone directory papers in the world, the fourth largest producer of newsprint and specialty mechanical paper in North America and the largest recycling facility for paper in Western Canada. In total, Catalyst ships nearly 2.5 million tons of paper annually, mostly through its Fraser River distribution center. “We’re a little unique,” Gary Carr, manager, Marine Transportation told AJOT. “Three of our mills are on Vancouver Island and the Powell River Mill may just as well be on Vancouver Island since it can only be reached by water. Carr said the fact that its mills require ferry or barge transport means the company faces additional costs in moving the product to customers. “For Crofton, Elk Falls and Powell River we use covered barges to the Lower Mainland,” Carr said. These moves are essentially Short Sea Shipping operations. Paper from the Port Alberni plant on Vancouver Island is moved to Nanaimo, BC, where the truck’s trailer is loaded onto a barge operated by Van Isle Barge. The paper is then delivered to the Mainland and the Fraser River where the trailers are unloaded and returned to Vancouver Island loaded with groceries and other retail products. While Catalyst’s distribution center is located next door to Fraser Surrey Docks, the company has its own barge dock, which receives the wrapped and labeled rolls of paper. “We use a clamp machine with rounded clamps that grab the rolls,” Carr said. The rolls are then lifted onto the dock where a flat trailer, called a “tugger” moves the rolls into the distribution facility’s warehouse. Here, the paper is either moved “cross dock” and directly into a rail car, dry van or a container for shipping, or the rolls are moved to other areas of the warehouse for shipment later. The Catalyst facility has access to all major rail lines in the Lower Mainland, allowing the paper firm to choose between companies. The rolls of paper are moved in special “paper quality cars” with smooth walls and floors and right-sized doors. “Chicago’s a big market for us,” Carr said, “as are California and Colorado.” In Canada, the paper moves by truck to cities such as Calgary and Edmonton and by rail to Eastern cities such as Toronto. Special handlingWhen it involves truck movements Catalyst deals with select core carriers familiar with the company’s requirements: that is, dry vans with no projections from the walls, smooth floors and free from odors from other cargo. The company also utilizes the Washington Marine Group - owned Norsk Pacific ship, MV Thorseggen, that operates out of Seattle, Washington, and transports more than 300,000 tons of newsprint and specialty paper products annually, making 26 trips yearly between British Columbia and California. The 18,982 DWT paper carrier has six holds with six geared hatches and two gantry cranes – rather than swing arm cranes - and is special-built for shipping unitized cargo such as paper. The paper rolls are loaded and discharged using a vacuum system that prevents the paper from being mechanically squeezed. The system involves putting plastic plugs in the bottom of the paper roll and using a powerful vacuum system aboard the ship that evacuates the air from the core of the