Sheraton Holdings Ltd., a Comfor Management Services Ltd. (CMSL) company remains closed, however according to CMSL president Quentin Beach, it is possible the mill could be reopening late September depending on markets.
According to Beach, the demand for Sheraton’s traditional products of cants, decking material and dowelled products, has not dramatically improved as of July.
In December 2010, the CMSL board announced the closure of the company and at the time Beach said it would not be producing any products for the foreseeable future.
The board decided a complete shut down of operations was necessary to limit the company’s losses and all staff, besides a skeleton maintenance crew were laid off.
Since, Henry Wiebe has stayed on as the manager the company and Beach said this will continue for the foreseeable future. Wiebe has been on leave since early new year and is not being paid by CMSL.
He said that while a number of the company’s assets have been sold off since its closure, the disposal of the items will not affect the company’s ability to reopen again when markets improve.
A number of assets including two Thomas skid steers and a Kenworth hiab have been sold and Beach said the items were surplus to the company’s needs. There has also been interest in other surplus sawmill items owned by Sheraton, however manager Henry Wiebe wants to hold on to the assets until it is determined if the company has a long term need for the items.
“If Sheraton is to reopen later this year, the number of employees the company will recall depends on the products it will be producing to fill customer orders, but until those customer orders are received and accepted we cannot speculate on how many employees will be rehired upon resumption of operations,” Beach said.
Sheraton’s log inventory has also dried up.
A small supply of dowel material remains in the yard, and Beach said the company’s sawlogs were sold last year.
“Prior to reopening, Sheraton Holdings Ltd. will need to procure fibre suitable to its needs on the open market.”
During a recent CMSL board meeting 0818725 B.C., a CMSL company that held shares in Sheraton was officially wound up, however Beach said this will not have any impact on Sheraton, or the possibility of a future reopening.
“The wind up of 0818725 B.C. Ltd. was a routine housekeeping measure designed to reduce administrative costs within the CMSL group.”
The shares that 0818725 B.C. Ltd. held in Sheraton Holdings Ltd. will now be transferred to CMSL.
