Glenwood sawmill to restart operations
The facility produces southern yellow pine dimensional lumber as well as radium edge decking used by the construction industry, according to Domtar’s website.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Domtar Glenwood sawmill, which employed more than 100 people and temporarily shut down in October, says it will be resuming operations in the coming weeks.
The company announced on Facebook Wednesday (March 18) that it will restart the sawmill, located at 229 South Spur 8, on March 30. In September, Domtar cited market factors like a surplus of lumber, low prices and high interest rates in its decision to cease operations. The company stopped purchasing new logs that month and it took a few weeks to wind down operations at the sawmill before a complete halt on Oct. 10.
“The restart reflects recent improvements and the opportunity to support current customer needs,” the social media post said Wednesday. “Operations will ramp up in a measured and phased approach over the next few weeks to ensure safe, reliable performance and alignment with current demand. Throughout the restart process, our focus will remain on operating safely and supporting our employees, customers and communities while managing our assets in a responsible way.”
Company spokesperson Tammy Waters said in an interview that work to bring operations back up to speed is already underway.
“We started bringing a few employees back last week who are looking at the equipment that had been idled since then,” Waters said.
She said Domtar’s human resources department has been reaching out to other employees who were let go to see if they would be interested in returning to work. In a notice to the city on Sept. 5, Domtar said affected employees would continue to receive insurance benefits through Dec. 1, provided they did not resign before the layoff date. At the time, it was said a reassessment would be conducted in December.
Waters said Wednesday she did not know exactly how many employees would be rehired, but added, “We’re excited to get the site back operational and to be bringing our employees back. It’s a very measured and strategic restart.”
Glenwood Mayor Billy Plyler said he was told by the company that employees ran 10 logs through the sawmill Wednesday morning for a test run, but that it will be a slow process to resume operations. “Not everybody will be back at once,” he said, noting it will take time for truckers to resume delivering logs to the property before normal operations can resume.
The facility produces southern yellow pine dimensional lumber as well as radium edge decking used by the construction industry, according to Domtar’s website.
In 2021, an $8.4 million capital investment project expanded production capacity at the sawmill under its previous owner, Resolute Forest Products. The company was then acquired by Domtar in 2023.
During the recent shutdown, other sawmills in the Glenwood area have continued normal operations.
Courtesy: www.lesprom.com