A forestry company whose ship was being blocked from leaving port with a load of pulp destined for Europe says it won't give in to Greenpeace demands.

Greenpeace wants SFK Pulp to provide a written guarantee it will engage in sustainable forestry practices.

An SFK official said Friday the Quebec-based company already follows proper standards and will not give in.

"We will not, we will not, for sure," said Louis Leblanc, a vice-president with SFK.

When told activists will only leave if they get the company's guarantee or are removed by police, Leblanc said of the police: "They will have to do their job."

Three Greenpeace activists had suspended themselves from mooring lines early Friday and others bobbed around in zodiac boats to stop the freighter from leaving port.

The Canadian Coast Guard backed up Saguenay police to handle the blockade on the Saguenay River, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City, but authorities did not immediately intervene.

Greenpeace said the activists hanging from the 170-metre long Jaeger Arrow's mooring lines and the others will remain in place until SFK Pulp changes its ways or they are removed by police.

"This blockade is a peaceful protest against destructive logging of the boreal forest and those companies who purchase unsustainable forest products," said Greenpeace Canada spokeswoman Melissa Filion.

"Greenpeace is determined to expose the problem of boreal forest destruction and drive international customers to take responsibility. Time and time again we've seen that when customers demand change, suppliers change their ways."

The SFK pulp is destined for processing at paper mills in Germany and France.

Greenpeace said it was targeting SFK Pulp because it is one of several companies the environmental group claims is linked to destruction of the old-growth boreal forest.

"There's about 8,000 tonnes of pulp that come from destructive logging operations in the boreal forest in the heart of Quebec that are being loaded onto this ship," said Richard Brooks, a Greenpeace spokesman.

'The forestry industry is in crisis now'

Leblanc said Greenpeace's actions are not helping the forestry industry.

"The forestry industry is in crisis now and we don't need this kind of action," he said.

Leblanc said SFK doesn't have any woodland operations and it has been targeted because it gets its supply from Abitibi-Consolidated and Bowater, which have forest operations.

"Greenpeace is targeting the wrong targets," he said.

He said Greenpeace wants a different type of certification than the internationally recognized certification used by the company. He said there are three different types of certification used, including the one preferred by Greenpeace, and all are good.

"In Quebec we are one of the best in the class," Leblanc said.

Jean Tremblay, the mayor of Saguenay, was angered by the protest, saying the environmentalists' claims are exaggerated.

"If you're going to make a show, do it somewhere else," he said.

The company's stock dipped five cents, or 1.17 per cent, to $4.21 in trading Friday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The high Canadian dollar, downtime at one of its mills and a charge related to Ottawa's decision to eventually tax trusts contributed to SFK Pulp reporting a $13.9-million loss in the second quarter.

In a recent report, Greenpeace cited logging and pulp companies such as Abitibi-Consolidated, Bowater, Kruger and SFK Pulp as being directly responsible for destroying nearly 200,000 square kilometres of boreal forest.

About two weeks ago, three Greenpeace activists were charged with mischief when the Arctic Sunrise, a vessel belonging to the environmental group, disrupted a coal delivery to a power plant in Nanticoke, Ont.