Bowater Incorporated
Media contact:
Gordon R. Manuel, 864-282-9448
Analyst contact:
William G. Harvey, 864-282-9413

Bowater Elects Richard B. Evans Director; Declares Dividend

The Board of Directors of Bowater Incorporated (NYSE: BOW) today elected Richard
B. Evans to the company's Board effective immediately. He replaces Richard Barth
who is retiring.

Mr. Evans, 56, is Executive Vice President of Alcan, Inc. and a member of
Alcan's Office of the President. Previously he has held other senior management
positions worldwide within Alcan since 1997 and prior to that was an executive
with Kaiser Aluminum.

In other Board action today, Bowater declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20
per common share payable January 2, 2004 to holders of record at the close of
business on December 10, 2003. Simultaneously, Bowater's subsidiary, Bowater
Canada Inc., declared a quarterly cash dividend to holders of its exchangeable
shares (TSE: BWX) in the same amount with the same record and payable dates.

Bowater Incorporated, headquartered in Greenville, SC, is a leading producer of
newsprint and coated groundwood papers. In addition, the company makes uncoated
groundwood papers, bleached kraft pulp and lumber products. The company has 12
pulp and paper mills in the United States, Canada and South Korea and 13 North
American sawmills that produce softwood lumber. Bowater also operates two
facilities that convert a groundwood base sheet to coated products. Bowater's
operations are supported by approximately 1.4 million acres of timberlands owned
or leased in the United States and Canada and 32 million acres of timber cutting
rights in Canada. Bowater is one of the world's largest consumers of recycled
newspapers and magazines. Bowater common stock is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange, the Pacific Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. A special class of
stock exchangeable into Bowater common stock is listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSE: BWX).

All amounts are in U.S. dollars.