Canfor Pulp Taylor BCTMP Mill Announces Temporary Curtailment of Operations

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Canfor Pulp Products Inc. announced its decision to temporarily curtail production at its Bleached Chemi-ThermoMechanical Pulp (BCTMP) mill in Taylor, British Columbia. The proposed downtime will be for a period of five weeks from June 29 to August 5. The decision is expected to reduce Canfor Pulp’s BCTMP output by approximately 25,000 tonnes.

The company cited weak market conditions and short term constraints in wood supply on account of sawmill slowdowns as the primary reasons for the curtailment. It must be noted that Canfor Corp had earlier announced that all its B.C. sawmills except the Wynnwood for at least two weeks starting today.

Also, it had announced permanent closure of the Vavenby sawmill, north of Kamloops in July this year. As per sources, the company has already started winding down its operations at the mill. It plans to terminate all the 172 unionized workers in a staggered manner depending on the role handled by them.

Meantime, Canfor’s $60 million sale of timber to Interfor was questioned by the Chief and Council of Simpcw First Nation. In a press release, it noted that the transaction will not go forward, unless and until it has a meaningful role in the management of its forests. It added that Simpcw has consistently expressed its focus on acquiring tenure to grow its forestry operations. Further, it criticized Canfor and Interfor for making a deal without working with it.