AV Group

AV Group is a subsidiary of India’s Aditya Birla Group, and is responsible for supplying markets with specialty pulp products to service the textile and paper industry. The AV Group has two mills, AV Cell and AV Nackawic, in New Brunswick.

LOCATIONS

Canada

Company History

AV Cell Inc., Specialty Cellulose Pulp Mill, is located in Atholville, New Brunswick, situated on the banks of the Restigouche River near the City of Campbellton. AV Cell Inc. was incorporated on January 7th, 1998 by the Aditya Birla Group and the mill reopened on February 20th with operations starting in May 1998. AV Cell draws its name from the initials of the late Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla, (AV) Father of the present chairman of the Adiyta Birla Group of India, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, and Cellulose (Cell), the main product manufactured at the mill.

AV Nackawic Inc. is located along the beautiful St. John River valley which has access to the hardwood forests of New Brunswick, Canada. Aditya Birla purchased the 36 year old facility in 2005 with the vision of converting it from a paper grade Kraft mill to a modern Prehydrolysis Kraft mill producing Dissolving Grade Pulp. Like the sister mill in Atholville, the initials AV originate from the late Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla.

Company Facts

The Atholville pulp mill has a rich history, which is a tribute to the dedication of its employees. The original Atholville Mill, constructed by the Fraser family, began operation in 1920 as a lath, lumber and shingle mill. In the 1930’s, the Mill was converted to a pulp mill renamed Restigouche Company Ltd., producing 45,000 tonnes of bleached sulphite pulp for the paper industry. The mill underwent many changes in process and in ownership over the years. Finally a joint venture between Tembec Inc. and the Aditya Birla Group resurected the mill as AV Cell Inc., in 1998. Employees, over these years, never gave up and today they are the secret of AV Cell’s strength in the current competitive market. This is the reason AV Cell is committed to its Employees and the Stakeholder by supporting the local communities of Restigouche in their quest to innovate and excel.

The bulk of this high purity pulp is supplied to the viscose plants of Aditya Birla Group in India, Thailand and Indonesia, for the manufacture of viscose staple fibre which is used in the textile industry in woven and nonwoven sector. The mill currently employs 280 employees directly, and many more indirectly, through its forest division which manages License 1 crown land. The mill continues to recruit chemical, electrical, mechanical engineers and other graduates and skilled tradesmen and technicians, either experienced or fresh out of university or community college. The Aditya Birla Group continued to grow its New Brunswick operation by acquiring another pulp mill, AV Nackawic in 2005. AV Cell and AV Nackawic, along with its forest operations are now known as AV Group.

AV Nackawic Inc. is located along the beautiful St. John River valley which has access to the large amount of hardwood forest in New Brunswick, Canada. Aditya Birla purchased the 36 year old facility in 2005 with the vision of converting it from a paper grade Kraft mill to a modern Prehydrolysis Kraft mill. Like our sister mill in northern New Brunswick, the initials AV originates from the late Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla.

Aditya Birla invested heavily in the mill in 2008 and converted it to produce dissolving grade pulp. Using the most advanced cooking technology in the world, the mill makes a pure cellulose product used for manufacturing rayon fibre. It was the first Prehydrolysis Kraft Mill in the world to use a unique Maple & Aspen blend for the manufacture of dissolving pulp.

The town of Nackawic was created as a result of the displaced farming communities when the hydroelectric dam in Mactaquac was constructed in the 1960’s. The original mill was built in 1970 to take advantage of the vast amount of hardwood species in the forest and produced world class quality photographic pulp for 34 years.