Conifex Timber, out of Vancouver, BC, announced February 4 that it is temporarily curtailing sawmill operations at its Fort St. James, British Columbia, sawmill for three weeks, said the Vanderhoof Omineca Express. Volatile lumber prices have forced Fort St. James sawmill to curtail its operations. A total of 150 production employees have been impacted by the curtailment, with 70 of them part of the six month temporary reduction that was announced at the end of November. In December, Conifex announced that on a temporary reduction basis they would be moving to a single line.
Apart from high structural log costs and volatile lumber prices, “we are still in a duty environment where we pay 20 percent tariffs when we export to the US and that represents 55 percent of our overall Canadian production. So we have all those three factors that are pushing together in the wrong direction right now.”
Conifex Timber
The curtailment has an impact on logging contractors, Conifex’s employees, their families and local businesses FULL STORY: https://www.ominecaexpress.com/news/conifex-curtailing-sawmill-operation-for-three-weeks/
About 120 workers were affected when Atlanta, GA-based Georgia-Pacific closed its Sterling lumber sawmill in Glynn County, GA, said the Atlanta Business Chronicle Thursday. The closure was effective February 1. The plant had been in operation since 1982, The Brunswick News reported. Employees were told January 31 that the plant would cease operations immediately, and that they would be paid and receive all benefits through April 2, it said. Read more here.
Also last month, the tissue, pulp, packaging and building products manufacturer announced it was exiting the communication papers business, affecting 650 jobs at its Port Hudson, LA, facility. The company made the decision following an assessment of its long-term competitive position in a declining market, it said in an announcement.
The company will permanently shut down the communication papers machines, related converting assets, the woodyard, pulp mill and a significant portion of the energy complex at the Port Hudson facility.
In addition to the 650 jobs at the facility in Port Hudson, the business line exit affected 49 business and sales jobs, the company said. Georgia-Pacific will continue to operate and invest in the Port Hudson mill to support its growing consumer tissue and towel business, it said. FULL STORY: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2019/02/07/georgia-pacific-closes-glynn-county-lumber-plant.html