Canfor to Close Vavenby Sawmill

Canfor Corporation announced it will be closing its Vavenby sawmill in British Columbia this July. Canfor has reached an agreement to sell the forest tenure associated with the Vavenby sawmill to Interfor for a price of $60 million.

“Due to the current and long-term log supply constraints we face in the Vavenby region, along with the high cost of fibre, we have made the very difficult decision to permanently close the sawmill and sell the associated forest tenure to Interfor. The ongoing depressed lumber markets have expedited this decision,” says Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor.

“Today’s decision is not a reflection on our employees, our contractors or the local communities of Vavenby and Clearwater who have all contributed significantly to the operation of our mill,” says Kayne. “We deeply regret the significant impact to our employees, contractors and the communities, and will be working to support them through this difficult time.”

“The BC forest industry has recognized for several years that sawmill capacity must be reduced as the annual allowable cut decreases following the end of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic,” says Kayne.

The Vavenby sawmill has an annual production capacity of approximately 250MMBF. Following the closure of Vavenby, Canfor will have 12 sawmills in Canada, with total annual capacity of approximately 3.55 billion BF.

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