Recently Reopened BC Sawmill Forced To Close
A northwestern British Columbia sawmill has shut down after only a few months of it’s reopening, due to a rapid decline in lumber demand.
The Kitwanga Sawmill near Hazelton reopened July 8, 2011 with optimism that the B.C. forest sector was rebounding from a steep downturn, but mill owner Pacific Bioenergy announced recently that they have temporary shut down because of market events that were completely unforeseen when they started up this summer. The mill’s 45 employees and staff have been laid off temporarily.
Lumber prices have tumbled from a high in the $300 US range for 1,000 board feet in early 2011 to $229 US, which is below break-even for all but a handful of B.C. mills.
“We started the mill in the early summer period. All the experts leading up to that period in time were predicting stronger market outlooks,” said Wayne Young, Pacific Bioenergy’s president. Young also said the company is looking into options such as custom cutting lumber to keep the mill running until prices improve for commodity lumber. Pacific Bioenergy also has plans to build a pellet plant at Kitwanga.
Latest News
Weyerhaeuser Buys 69,000 Acres
Weyerhaeuser is purchasing 69,200 acres of high-quality Alabama timberlands from Soterra, a subsidiary of Greif, Inc., for $149 million. The acquisition comprises highly productive timberlands in southwest Alabama, 100 miles north of Mobile…
Georgia-Pacific Finishes Strong
Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Timber Processing March 2021 – When the largest privately held company in the U.S., Koch Industries, purchased publicly-held Georgia-Pacific Corp. in 2005, the lumber leadership at GP who came to Koch with the…
Humboldt Sawmill Gains Biochar Certificate
Utilizing major cogeneration residual, Humboldt Sawmill in Scotia, Calif. has obtained a European Biochar Certificate, the first U.S. based company to do so. Through the production of biochar, a byproduct of its Scotia, California cogeneration plant, Humboldt Sawmill is providing a sustainable product that can be added to soils by farmers and other landowners to aid in…
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.
Subscribe/Renew
Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.