New Brunswick news — AV Group NB Inc. will temporarily idle its AV Nackawic pulp mill around the end of October, blaming weak markets, and the Nackawic Pulp Mill shutdown has put roughly 350 jobs — and the economic backbone of a small rural community — on the line.
By Maplestime News Desk | Fredericton, New Brunswick | September 20, 2026
Sources: Canadian Trends, Newslocker (regional reporting) | Last updated: September 20, 2026
Key Takeaways
- AV Group NB Inc., a subsidiary of India’s Aditya Birla Group, announced September 17 it will temporarily idle its AV Nackawic facility west of Fredericton around the end of October.
- About 350 employees are affected; Unifor Local 219 says the decision puts 228 union members out of work.
- The company cites “prevailing market conditions” and a global surplus of dissolving-grade pulp pushing prices down against production costs.
- The company’s Atholville pulp mill is not affected. Wood deliveries to Nackawic had already slowed in August, according to the local mayor.
A Temporary Idle With Nothing Temporary About It
The announcement landed on Thursday, September 17: the Nackawic Pulp Mill would be “temporarily idled” around the end of October. The company, AV Group NB Inc. — owned by India’s Aditya Birla Group — pointed to market conditions and broader macroeconomic challenges.
But nobody in Nackawic is treating the word “temporary” as a promise. The shutdown affects roughly 350 employees. Unifor Local 219 says 228 of its union members will be out of work. In a community this size, that’s not a statistic — it’s the mill, the paycheques, and the town’s reason for being, all going quiet at once.
The Company’s Case: Too Much Pulp, Too Little Price
Mike Legere, AV Group’s director of government relations and communications, was blunt about the mill’s long-running trouble:
“Nackawic has been challenging for a number of years. This was not a flippant decision by any means… There is presently a surplus of dissolving-grade pulp on the marketplace, which compounds the problem in terms of trying to get a higher price realization, and really the price for it is stable, but is not at all keeping up with production costs.”
The Nackawic facility makes dissolving-grade pulp — the high-purity product used in textiles like rayon. A global surplus has flattened prices while production costs keep climbing. That’s the squeeze, and the company decided it couldn’t keep running the mill through it.
There were warning signs. Nackawic-Millville Mayor Tim Fox noted that wood deliveries to the mill had already slowed in August — the kind of detail that tells you the decision was months in the making, whatever the announcement date says.
What Residents and Workers Are Saying
The reaction was immediate and, frankly, emotional. Unifor national president Lana Payne called it exactly what it feels like in the town:
“This is a devastating day for our AV Nackawic members and their families who have built their lives around this mill, and for an entire community that has depended on this operation for generations.”
Follow-up reporting on September 18 showed residents and the mayor urging the mill to continue operating, pointing to its role as the economic backbone of the rural community. The Nackawic Pulp Mill isn’t one employer among many — in this stretch of the Saint John River valley, it is the economy.
What the Nackawic Pulp Mill Shutdown Means for New Brunswick
- Nackawic only: The company’s Atholville pulp mill is not affected by the decision.
- 350 jobs at stake: Roughly 350 employees affected, including 228 union members per Unifor Local 219.
- Timeline: The idle takes effect around the end of October 2026.
- Market question: Whether “temporary” becomes permanent depends on the dissolving-pulp market recovering — something nobody can schedule.
For now, the town waits. The mill that generations built their lives around goes quiet at the end of October, and the only thing certain is the uncertainty hanging over Nackawic. If the dissolving-pulp market turns, the Nackawic Pulp Mill could restart; if it doesn’t, “temporary” will quietly become the town’s new reality.
Maplestime will provide updates from the Nackawic mill shutdown as announcements are made.
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Should New Brunswick fight harder to keep industrial anchors like the Nackawic mill alive — or let the market decide? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian who knows a town built on one mill.
