“Our overall strategic objective is to be a world leader in the paper industry. We have developed our business strategies around three pillars: meeting and anticipating the ever-changing needs of customers, providing our shareholders with attractive returns, and fostering a dynamic and creative environment for our employees in which shared human values and personal commitment prevail.
Our business strategies are to continue to
- anticipate and meet the needs of our customers in order to enhance customer loyalty
- improve the productivity of our mills and the quality of our products and services
- broaden our distribution capabilities
- grow through acquisitions and alliances within our areas of expertise
- maintain strict financial discipline
- foster the personal growth and participation of employees
- act as a responsible corporate citizen.
Through these strategies, we aim to be one of the most attractive investments in the North American basic materials sector by providing superior returns to our shareholders.
Domtar is the third largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America. It is also a leading manufacturer of business papers, commercial printing and publication papers, and technical and specialty papers. Domtar manages according to internationally recognized standards 17 million acres of forestland in Canada and the United States, and produces lumber and other wood products. Domtar has 9,800 employees across North America. The company also has a 50% investment interest in Norampac inc., the largest Canadian producer of containerboard.
Papers
82% of sales1
We design, manufacture, market and distribute a wide range of fine paper products for a variety of consumers, including merchants, retail outlets, stationers, printers, publishers, converters and end-users. Approximately 81% of our uncoated freesheet production capacity is located in the United States.
We are the largest integrated manufacturer and marketer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America and the second largest in the world based on production capacity. We operate 12 pulp and paper mills (nine in the United States and three in Canada) with an annual paper production capacity of approximately 4.6 million tons of uncoated freesheet. Our paper facilities are complemented by strategically located warehouses and sales offices.
Our Papers segment also includes our pulp manufacturing business. We sell paper grade pulp to the extent we produce more pulp than is required for internal use in our paper mills. We also manufacture and sell fluff pulp and specialty pulp. The sale of paper grade pulp to third parties allows optimization of pulp capacity while reducing overall manufacturing costs. We shipped approximately 1.3 million metric tonnes of pulp in excess of our internal requirements in 2007.
Paper Merchants
14% of sales1
Our Paper Merchants business consists of an extensive network of strategically located paper distribution facilities, comprising the purchasing, warehousing, sale and distribution of various products made by us and other manufacturers. These products include business and printing papers and certain industrial products. These products are sold to a wide and diverse customer base, which includes small, medium and large commercial printers, publishers, business forms manufacturers, quick copy firms and institutional entities. Our paper merchants operate in the United States and Canada under a single banner and umbrella name, the Domtar Distribution Group. Ris Paper, part of the Domtar Distribution Group, operates throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest areas from 20 locations in the United States, including 16 distribution centers. Domtar Distribution Group, in Canada, operates as Buntin Reid in three locations in Ontario; JBR/La Maison du Papier in two locations in Quebec; and The Paper House in two locations in Atlantic Canada.
Wood
4% of sales1
Our Wood business comprises the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of lumber and wood-based value-added products, and the management of forest resources. We operate five sawmills with a production capacity of approximately 660 million board feet of lumber and one remanufacturing facility. In addition, we own six sawmills that are currently not in operation but have an aggregate production capacity of approximately 796 million board feet of lumber. We also have investments in five companies, one of which is not in operation. We seek to optimize 28 million acres of forestland directly licensed or owned in Canada and the United States through efficient management and the application of certified sustainable forest management practices such that a continuous supply of wood is available for future needs.
1. For the quarter ended December 30, 2007.