Canfor Extends Temporary Production Halt at B.C Sawmills

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Vancouver, B.C.-based Canfor Corporation announced its decision to extend temporary curtailment at sawmills in the British Colombia (B.C) region. The company had announced production cuts at B.C mills for the first time in beginning of November this year. The company press release notified that the production curtailments will be extended. It blamed continuous decline in lumber prices, rising log costs and constrained log supply situation for the extension of the temporary production curtailment.

Along with production curtailments, Canfor Corp. have also decided to reduce the operating hours at some sawmills throughout the first quarter of 2019. Under current circumstances, the company plans to reopen the sawmills for production on January 7, 2019. The decision to curtail operations and reduce operating hours is believed to impact the company’s production by nearly 55 million board feet in Q1 next year.

Recently, all major forestry companies in the B.C. region had announced layoffs and temporary curtailments. For instance, Western Forest Products, Inc. (WFP) had decided in mid-November this year to eliminate a third shift at its Quesnel and Fraser Lake sawmills. In addition, the company had also announced temporary production halts at its four B.C. mills- Chasm, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Chetwynd during the upcoming holiday season.

The lumber prices in the U.S. have witnessed a free fall from $655 per thousand board feet in early-2018 to as low as $298 by the year-end.