Columbia Cellulose Company, Limited

• Columbia Cellulose Company Ltd.
• Port Edward Development Company, Limited
• Port Edward Cellulose Company, Limited
• Columbia Cellulose Limited
• Columbia Cellulose Ltd.

The Columbia Cellulose Company, Limited was established under the name Port Edward Development Company, Limited in 1946 by the Celanese Corporation of America to produce high alpha wood pulp. The name was changed to the Port Edward Cellulose Company, Limited in 1947 and was finally changed to the present name in 1948. The first mill was constructed at Prince Rupert after the company was granted Tree Farm Licence (TFL) No. 1 in 1948. Celgar Development Company (more commonly known as Celgar Limited), a subsidiary of Columbia Cellulose, purchased three sawmill operations in the Arrow Lakes region at Nakusp and Castlegar in the early 1950s. The sawmills at Castlegar were transformed into an updated sawmill, a kraft mill, and a pulp mill. Columbia Cellulose was granted TFL No. 23 in July, 1955 and Nakusp was the headquarters for the woods operations in the interior with the Arrow Lakes system and tributary rivers providing waterways for booming and towing to the mills at Castlegar. The Columbia Cellulose Company added Prince Rupert Construction Limited (incorporated 1954) as a subsidiary in 1958 along with Skeena Logging Equipment Limited that same year. More mills in the interior were opened and in 1964 Columbia Cellulose began working with Svenka Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, a large Swedish manufacturer of forest products in the province, to build Skeena Kraft Limited. Skeena Kraft Limited was granted TFL No. 40 and Skeena Kraft headquartered its operations in Terrace. In 1965, Columbia Cellulose bought Calum Lumber Limited in Prince Rupert and acquired Columbia Pulp Sales Limited within the next two years. The declining Columbia Cellulose Company was taken over by the government of British Columbia in 1973 and was the basis for a new company: Canadian Cellulose Company, Limited. The name was changed again in 1981 to BC Timber Ltd.

Prince Rupert, BC Skeena River, BC

Revised October 3, 2019 by SG.

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