Canfor is reopening its Vavenby mill. The company announced Feb. 11 that it intends to invest re-start its Vavenby operation in the third quarter of this year; putting up to 140 unionized and non-unionized staff back to work.
The Vavenby sawmill and planer mill, as well as most associated logging operations, were shut down during the summer of 2009. The decision by the Canfor board to reopen follows a meeting by local Steelworkers members the previous weekend that agreed to proposals from the company.
Canfor plans to spend $24 million on upgrading the Vavenby sawmill and planer mill before reopening, said spokesperson Dave Lefebvre. The money will go to a new canter line plus sorter and edger modifications at the sawmill, and autograding and sorting capacity at the planer mill. “It’s all focused on cost reductions and increases in production,” he said. “We hope to get started on the upgrades shortly and get the mill re-started in the third quarter of the year.”
The mill will start first with just one shift. A second shift is expected to begin a few months later. When at full production, the mill will produce approximately 240 million board feet of SPF (spruce-pine-fir) lumber on an annual basis. Vavenby has an “interesting product mix” with its high-grade lumber, said Lefebvre.
The company expects most of the production to go to the United States, with some to Japan and some high-grade products to the rest of Asia.
“Kudos to (forests minister) Pat Bell for what he’s done for the forest industry,” said MLA Terry Lake. “Without the increase in business to China he’s brought about, Canfor wouldn’t have made this decision at this time. The company is sending the equivalent of three or four mills’ production to China now. Without that void being created there would not have been an opportunity for Vavenby.”
Lake noted that the forests minister has visited the area several times and has advocated for Canfor-Vavenby, local value-added mills and Wells Gray Community Forest. “I think John Harwood said it best when he said the reopening would reunite families,” said the Kamloops-North Thompson MLA.
“This is going to take a big burden off people,” commented Mayor John Harwood. “Canfor has constantly kept us advised. They let us know Friday morning that an announcement was coming that afternoon but we couldn’t tell anyone until the stock market closed.”
