Demand Has Plummeted By 40%, And A Century-old Paper Company in North America Has Announced The Closure Of Its Newsprint Factory, Resulting in The Unemployment Of 150 People!

Under the continuous impact of the digital revolution, the foundation of the traditional print media industry is undergoing an unprecedented shake-up. On Thursday local time, the century-old industrial landmark - the Riverton Pulp and Paper Company - officially announced that due to the sharp decline in global market demand, it will cease all operations of its news paper mill. This decision not only means that this factory, which has stood in the Sandbank community of Ontario for over a century, will completely abandon the news paper business, but also directly leads to a major career turning point for 150 employees.
The CEO of Ray Bay Pulp and Paper Company, Norm Bush, admitted in an interview that this was an extremely difficult and heartbreaking decision. Although the company was well aware of the deep emotional bonds between the factory and the local community, the indigenous partners, as well as the upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, in the face of the harsh market data, sentiment had to give way to survival.
According to the data disclosed by the company, since Atlas Holdings took over this factory in 2022, the demand for newsprint in the North American market has plummeted sharply, with a cumulative decline of as much as 40%. What is even more shocking is that in just the past year of 2025 alone, the demand shrank by 18%, and industry forecasts indicate that this figure will continue to decline by double digits in 2026.
Bush emphasized that the decline of the newsprint market is not a short-term fluctuation but a long-term and irreversible systemic decline. With the widespread adoption of electronic alternatives, the medium of information dissemination has undergone a fundamental transformation. Currently, the weak market prices are completely unable to cover the high production costs. Companies, without seeing any hope of recovery, can only choose to cut off their arms and seek survival by completely withdrawing from the newsprint business. At present, the factory's top priority is to provide transitional support for the 150 affected employees. Although some employees have the right to transfer positions, they can move to other production positions in the factory. However, for most families, this uncertainty still brings a huge psychological impact.
However, the predicament of Raywick Pulp and Paper Company merely reflects a microcosm of the "winter" that has hit the forestry industry in Ontario and throughout North America. At the same time as Raywick announced its production halt, the forestry ecological chain in the region is suffering a series of blows. The Ignes sawmill, which belongs to Domtar, also received the news of production suspension. The factory is expected to close officially in mid-March this year after completing the processing of its existing log inventory. This will result in the unemployment of approximately 25 workers. Meanwhile, the sawmill in Earl Falls of Interfor has been in a standstill since October last year, and the Treelace Bay Pulp Mill has been in an indefinite production halt since the beginning of 2024.
The causes of this industry upheaval are numerous. Besides the disappearance of terminal demand, the deterioration of the international trade environment has made the situation even worse. Currently, the tariffs imposed by the United States on Canadian softwood imports have soared to an astonishing 45%. High tariff barriers, weak market demand, and fluctuating raw material prices have pushed many producers to the brink of collapse.
Wesley Ridler, a representative of the Canadian Steelworkers' Union, pointed out that in small communities where there are no other large employers, the closure of a sawmill often means the collapse of the entire community's economic backbone. This social impact is far more profound than the financial losses shown in the reports.
In the face of the continuous wave of production halts, the government is also under great pressure. Kevin Holland, a provincial representative from the Leaside-Attico-Cambridge electoral district, expressed regret over the enterprises' decision and announced that Ontario has launched a "Protecting Workers and Industrial Response Center" to provide comprehensive re-employment support to the affected groups. At the same time, the provincial government is strongly urging the federal government to promptly fulfill the previously promised industry assistance funds to alleviate the urgent needs of the forest products industry.
In a desperate situation, the Ray Bay Pulp and Paper Company is also attempting to find a glimmer of hope through transformation. It is reported that although the company has shut down its newsprint production line, it will still maintain the operation of its single-line softwood kraft pulp mill and continue to sell renewable energy to the Ontario power grid. Bush disclosed that the company is planning to collaborate with the government to study the feasibility of upgrading and renovating its existing paper equipment. The future direction might be to shift towards producing more economically profitable linerboard (i.e., hardboard packaging materials) or other high-value-added products.
"We have the best paper-making equipment and technical team in North America," Bush expressed a cautious optimism when looking to the future. However, he also emphasized that this business transformation is a long-term strategic project that may take three to four years and involve a huge investment of several hundred million dollars. In the current economic environment, this is more of a long-term vision rather than an immediately feasible plan.
For the residents of the northwest region of Ontario, the chimneys of these factories used to be symbols of prosperity. But now, they have more often become memories of the pain of industry transformation. From the glory of the print media era to the forced exit of digital transformation, from the benefits of free trade to the shackles of tariff barriers, the struggles and choices of the forestry giants reflect precisely the snapshot of the drastic reshaping of the global industrial landscape. How to find new growth points on the ruins of traditional industries, and how to rebuild employment in the barren land where demand has vanished, will be the severe challenges that these enterprises and local governments must face in the coming years.