Canfor announces significant, temporary reductions at almost all B.C. sawmills
Permanent closure of Vavenby mill was announced last week
Canfor Corporation has announced it will be "significantly" curtailing operations at all of its B.C.'s sawmills, except Wynnwood, for two to six weeks.
The announcement comes less than a week after the corporation announced it would be permanently closing the Vavenby sawmill in July, affecting 172 jobs.
According to a written statement from the company, the majority of mills will be curtailed for two weeks, with extended curtailments of four weeks at Houston and Plateau, and six weeks at Mackenzie.
The curtailments are scheduled to run from June 17 through July 26.
"The curtailments are due to very poor lumber markets and the high cost of fibre, which are making the operating conditions in B.C. uneconomic," the statement reads in part.
The curtailments will reduce Canfor's production output by approximately 200 million board feet — a unit of measurement used to quantify lumber in the U.S. and Canada.
Following the previously announced closure of Vavenby in July, Canfor will have 12 sawmills in Canada, with total annual capacity of approximately 3.55 billion board feet.