Image Credit: Google Maps Streetview
March 03, 2015 - 4:27 PM
KAMLOOPS – After operating in Kamloops since the 1960s, Arclin Canada Limited is set to close its local plant, laying off seven employees by early summer.
The closure was brought on by a decline in housing development in Canada and the United States. Resin manufactured by the plant was used in wood productions and construction industries.
Director of Manufacturing, Martin Forest, says the plant has struggled since the industry downturn began years ago.
“It started in 2009 and it never recovered. It’s been very difficult since then,” he says.
Forest adds a boom was expected in the mill industry in Western Canada, but it never happened. As a result the plant has been operating at just 30 per cent capacity.
“The market is very small and we can’t create customers,” he says.
The plants’ doors are set to close June 30.
Arclin is one of only four heavy industry players in the city, along with Domtar, Lafarge and Tolko. Domtar laid off 125 employees when it closed one of its mills in 2013.
The companies have been asking the city to lower the heavy industry tax rate for a few years in an effort to make operating in the city more cost effective. The city has been reluctant to give more than a token tax break but is working to expand the city boundaries to include New Gold, which would help spread the tax requirement to another large company.
The closure also comes on the heels of Target announcing all Canadian stores would be closing down.
To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015