Temiscaming, Quebec, Canada, 23 March 2009 -– Tembec today announced a temporary curtailment of operations in the Kapuskasing region. The shutdown was attributed to the ongoing challenging market conditions for both lumber and newsprint. The shutdown will commence on 09 April 2009, and will last for a minimum of four weeks. It will affect approximately 510 employees at all levels of the organization's sawmill, newsprint, and forestry operations.

“The curtailments announced today are a direct reflection of the challenging market conditions facing both lumber and newsprint and the related need to manage inventory levels and working capital. The newsprint operations at Kapuskasing have made significant progress in terms of improved productivity. These efforts by our employees, combined with positive actions taken by the Province of Ontario to reduce the effective price of electricity, have helped to improve the cost position of the newsprint mill significantly. Such positive actions have been and will continue to be integral to the competitive position of this site. However, the current and foreseen market conditions are such that this curtailment is unavoidable,” said Terry Skiffington, vice president, Newsprint Operations, Paper Group.

The curtailments are expected to result in lost production of 20,000 metric tons of newsprint and 8 million board feet of lumber. Tembec indicated it will continue to monitor market conditions closely and will govern operating rates accordingly.

Tembec is a large, diversified and integrated forest products company and a global leader in sustainable forest management practices. With operations principally located in North America and in France, the company employs approximately 7000 persons. Tembec’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TMB and warrants under TMB.WT. Additional information on Tembec is available at www.tembec.com.