Kamloops News
Canfor to shut down sawmill in Quesnel, B.C., due to lack of timber supply
Shelley Jordan
Google Maps satellite view of area around Quesnel showing large areas of deforestation.
Image Credit: Google Maps
October 24, 2013 - 5:09 PM
VANCOUVER - Canfor Corp., will permanently close its sawmill in Quesnel in British Columbia's Cariboo region due to lack of timber.
The company says 209 employees will be offered positions elsewhere in the company when operations in the Cariboo are shut down next March.
Canfor (TSX:CFP) president Don Kayne says dwindling timber supply because of the mountain pine beetle infestation means the company is unable to continue running the mill.
The Vancouver-based company has entered into an agreement with West Fraser Mills for an exchange in forest tenure rights.
It's exchanging 382,000 cubic metres of replaceable forest licence allowable annual cut in the Quesnel timber supply area and nearly 54,000 cubic metres of replaceable forest licence allowable annual cut in the Morice timber supply area.
A statement from Canfor, which primarily produces softwood lumber, says the companies are also exchanging non-replaceable licenses and undercut volumes.
Kayne says the additional fibre the company has secured in the deal with West Fraser enhances the fibre requirements for Canfor's facility in Houston.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013