Temporary Curtailment at Mackenzie Sawmill Extended For Additional Five Weeks

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): British Columbia, Canada-headquartered Conifex Timber Inc. announced its decision to extend the temporary curtailment of operations at its Mackenzie, B.C. sawmill. The curtailment has been extended for an additional period of five weeks until 6^th July, 2020. The decision is on account of ongoing dip in demand for forest products due to Covid-19 pandemic impacts.

According to company press release, the company will continue its efforts to collaborate with partners on ensuring more affordable supply of saw log, so as to enable the restart of sawmill operations, as planned. Meantime, the extended curtailment will not affect bioenergy operations at the mill facility. The company will continue to closely monitor evolving market conditions and customer demand, while ensuring utmost priority to health and safety of its employees, it noted.

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On April 16^th, 2020, the curtailment was initially extended for a period of two weeks until May 3^rd, 2020. Again on May 1^st, it had extended the curtailment to additional period of four weeks until June 1^st, 2020.

The company had reported net loss of $8.2 million in the first quarter of the current year. The Mackenzie sawmill had produced approximately 38.2 million board feet of lumber, down significantly by 28% from the prior year quarter.