Calling its B.C. mill operations “uneconomic,” Canfor is closing its mill here and at two other locations for four days following the Labour Day statutory holiday next Monday.
And its shifting operations here to a four-day week thereafter, something that “will remain in effect until market and economic conditions support a return to a full operating schedule of five days per week,” the company announced in an Aug. 28 press release.
Next week’s closures will affect mills in Prince George, in Bear Lake north of Prince George and in Fort St. John..
The four-day work week goes in effect at its Plateau mill outside of Vanderhoof in addition to Houston.
“The curtailments are due to the ongoing low price of lumber and the high cost of fibre, which are making the operating conditions in BC uneconomic,” the company said.
The announcement follows the Houston mill and others returning to work in July after an extended shutdown and continues a series of temporary closures which began late last year.
As with other forestry companies in B.C., Canfor is suffering from a shortage of logs, high logging costs and continuing tariffs on lumber being shipped to the United States.
The company announced the permanent closure of its Vavenby sawmill north of Kamloops earlier this year, resulting in the loss of more than 172 jobs.
It sold its timber tenure that fed the Vavenby mill to Interfor.
