MONTREAL - Domtar wants to boost production of office copier paper if it wins an anti-dumping case against imports from five countries, including China, that the company alleges have violated international trade agreements.
"We're confident we could supply the volume required," Domtar CEO John Williams said Thursday in a conference call.
Domtar (TSX:UFS), three other paper producers and the union representing thousands of industry employees, are pushing for the United States to penalize imports of "uncoated free-sheet paper" from China, Indonesia, Brazil, Portugal and Australia.
The coalition alleges that the imports are benefiting from subsidies that violate trade agreements. Such complaints often take years to resolve completely, although national bodies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission have powers to impose duties that drive up the price of targeted imports.
Domtar — a leading North American producer of office paper — has been adapting its operations to make other types of product but Williams said it will have two paper machines remaining after it converts some output to fluff for use in personal-care products such as diapers. He said some paper grades can also be converted back to copier paper. more here