The North American forest products industry has a rich and storied history, and nowhere is it more evident than in Domtar’s combined 205 years of business. Our family tree took root in 1820, and it extends unbroken to today under the ownership of Indonesian businessman Jackson Wijaya.
Much has changed over the two centuries that have passed since we began operations in Canada by exporting lumber to Great Britain, but what hasn’t changed throughout Domtar’s history is our relentless pursuit of excellence.
To better understand where we came from and how we became a leading manufacturer of diversified forest products, read through this overview of Domtar’s history.
Our Roots Run Deep
Our story began in 1820, when the William Price Company was established to export lumber to Great Britain from Quebec, Canada. The company, which eventually rebranded as Price Brothers, remained focused on lumber exports until 1912, when it entered the paper business, joining several other well-established Canadian paper companies. After the industry underwent decades of mergers and acquisitions, the consolidated company emerged in 1979 under the name Abitibi-Price.
Meanwhile, in 1848, Henry Potter Burt founded Burt, Boulton Holding Company Ltd., which specialized in treated lumber used for railway ties and wharf pilings. The British company entered the North American market in 1859 with the acquisition of a sawmill in Quebec. By 1903, the company was operating as Dominion Tar and Chemical Company, Ltd., and in 1914, it established its headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. The enterprise grew and eventually shortened its name to the now familiar Domtar, becoming Domtar Ltd. in 1965 and Domtar Inc. in 1977. By the end of the 1970s, it had grown into one of Canada’s largest companies, with broad business interests ranging from chemicals and fine paper to consumer products and packaging.
Both companies continued to refine their product offerings through mergers, acquisitions and divestitures well into the 1990s. By 1997, Abitibi-Price had merged with Stone-Consolidated to form Abitibi-Consolidated, the world’s largest producer of newsprint and uncoated groundwood. It entered into the engineered wood products business in 2003. Domtar Inc. refined its focus on pulp and paper in the 1990s, and in 2007 it merged with Weyerhaeuser to form Domtar Corporation, the largest integrated manufacturer and marketer of uncoated paper in North America, and the second largest such company in the world.
The early 2000s were marked by more mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, Abitibi-Consolidated acquired Donohue; in 2007, Abitibi-Consolidated merged with Bowater to become AbitibiBowater; and in 2011, it changed its name to Resolute Forest Products. Resolute continued making newsprint, specialty papers, pulp and wood products, and it eventually branched into manufacturing wood pellets and tissue. Domtar dipped its toes into personal care products, but in 2021 it sold that division after entering the 100 percent recycled packaging business with the 2020 conversion of its Kingsport, Tennessee, mill.
In 2021, Domtar was acquired by Paper Excellence Group, a global diversified manufacturer of pulp and specialty, printing, writing and packaging papers. Two years later, owner Jackson Wijaya acquired Resolute Forest Products, bringing all three companies under the same umbrella. With those acquisitions, as well as a previous acquisition of Catalyst Paper Corporation in 2019, Paper Excellence Group became a leader in the North American forest products industry.
In October 2024, Paper Excellence Group rebranded under the Domtar name, integrating the operations of Domtar Corporation, Resolute Forest Products and the legacy Paper Excellence business. Sister companies Paper Excellence Brazil and Fibre Excellence in France continue operating and innovating under the ownership of Wijaya.
In November 2024, Domtar acquired Iconex Paper’s North American point-of-sale receipt business, making the company the leading provider of thermal point-of-sale paper products in the United States.
Our Future Is Bright
Domtar’s history serves as a foundation for our future. Today, we are a privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products with 60 locations across North America. Our principal executive office is located in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and we maintain a significant presence in Montreal, Quebec.
Domtar serves the pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and wood products markets in the U.S., Canada and abroad, and we pride ourselves on operational excellence, delivering sustainable, high-quality and cost-effective products to meet and exceed our customers’ needs.
Throughout Domtar’s history, we’ve stayed committed to turning sustainable wood fiber into everyday essential products. As we enter 2025, Domtar:
- Employs more than 14,000 people
- Markets products in over 60 countries around the globe
- Sources 100 percent of its fiber in accordance with third-party fiber sourcing standards
- Maintains a 74 percent* renewable energy use across its North American operations
- Produces close to 3 billion board feet of lumber and other wood products every year
- Boasts an annual production capacity of 9.1 million metric tons of pulp, paper, packaging and tissue
- Donates $4.3 million* annually to community organizations across North America
“Staying in business for more than 200 years doesn’t happen by accident,” says John D. Williams, non-executive chairman of Domtar. “It demands focus, hard work, dedication and integrity, as well as a spirit of collaboration, sustainability and commitment to excellence. Domtar’s history proves that we have been and always will be dedicated to adapting and innovating to meet the needs of our customers. Our vision, mission and values serve as the very foundation for everything we do. And together, we are the fiber for the future.”
Read on to learn more about Domtar’s history:
- Domtar’s Sustainability Story: Another Reason to Celebrate Our Legacy
- The Evolution of Manufacturing Safety at Domtar
- Long-Time Windsor Mill Employee Recalls 60 Years at Domtar
- In Their Words: Women of Domtar, Then and Now
* in 2023
