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
PotlatchDeltic Announces Project At Waldo Sawmill
PotlatchDeltic Corp. is investing $131 million to expand and modernize its sawmill located in Waldo, Ark. The project will increase the mill’s annual production capacity from 190MMBF of southern yellow pine dimension lumber to 275MMBF. The company states that the investment will reduce the mill’s operating costs significantly…
Weyerhaeuser Led Company Through Key Years
George H. Weyerhaeuser Sr., who served as president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser Co. from 1966 to 1991 during an exciting period of wood products development while encountering new timber supply challenges brought on by an aggressive environmental movement in the Northwest, died June 11, 2022 in his sleep at home in Lakewood (Tacoma), Wash. He was 95…
Armor In Housing Starts Reveals Crack
U.S. housing starts dropped significantly in May 2022, down 14.4% from April to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.549 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development monthly new residential construction report. Both single-family and multi-family starts took hits…
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.