North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 04 June 2014 -- Fortress Paper Ltd. has approved an employee reduction plan that will result in a reduction of approximately 16% of the salaried staff in the company's dissolving pulp segment, including senior management, middle management and clerical staff. The impact in cost savings is estimated at approximately $2.2 million per year. These layoffs resulted from a management directive to immediately reduce labour costs as part of a comprehensive cost reduction initiative undertaken in response to the challenging dissolving pulp market.

“Fortress Paper is facing extremely difficult market conditions for dissolving pulp and we firmly believe in the need to be proactive to control our future," stated Chadwick Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper. “While layoffs are unfortunate, they are a necessary and prudent measure in these difficult times."

The company operates its dissolving pulp business at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill located in Thurso, Que. Fortress acquired the Thurso mill in 2010 from an insolvent Fraser Papers for $3 million.

Lesprom Network reported mid-May that Alain Dubuc has been appointed as chief operating officer of Fortress Specialty Cellulose Inc. Most recently, Dubuc was senior vice-president of operations at Pinnacle Renewable Energy, where he oversaw six forestry-related mills across British Columbia.