Canfor Establishing U.S. Headquarters In Alabama

Canadian wood products company Canfor is opening its U.S. headquarters in Mobile. The U.S. branch will operate under the name Canfor Southern Pine, said Fred Stimpson, Canfor Southern Pine president.

The move will bring 20 jobs to Mobile, said Troy Wayman, vice president of economic development for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. Twenty-five employees working with Scotch Gulf Lumber will remain in Mobile. The headquarters will be on three floors of the Van Antwerp building in downtown, Stimpson said. It is an early 20th century building owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama.

The company’s office in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will remain open, Stimpson said. The company is not closing or relocating offices and no employees will be forced to move to Mobile, he said. “Myrtle Beach will continue to be a very important administrative hub for the four mills in the Carolinas,” Stimpson said.

Canfor Southern Pine consists of 11 sawmills, four secondary manufacturing plants and a trucking company, Stimpson said. It has 1,900 employees, 350 of which are in Alabama. Most of its timber comes from landowners within 75 miles of the mills. The Alabama mills also buy timber from the U.S. Forest Service. The company operates Alabama mills in Mobile, Jackson and Fulton. All three were part of Scotch Gulf Lumber.

Canfor Southern Pine has grown significantly during the past 10 years. Stimpson joined the company when it acquired Scotch Gulf Lumber in a “staged purchase” that began three years ago. Canfor acquired four companies in the southern U.S. in 2015.

From Alabama Newscenter: alabamanewscenter.com.

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