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Canfor to permanently shut Chetwynd facility and curtail Houston sawmill

Canfor Corporation is permanently closing its Chetwynd sawmill and pellet plant and temporarily closing its Houston sawmill for an extended period to facilitate a major redevelopment on the site.

“We are making these difficult but necessary decisions to create a more sustainable operating footprint in B.C.,” said Don Kayne, president and CEO.

In a statement, the company said it is restructuring its B.C. operations “to better align manufacturing capacity in B.C. with the available long-term fibre supply.”

Canfor added that it intends to build a new, modern, globally competitive manufacturing facility that employs state of the art technology to produce high value products from the sustainable timber supply in the region. Project planning, scoping, preliminary engineering and budgeting are underway.

“Our goal is to match our mill capacity with the economically available fibre for harvest to enhance our ability to compete and to operate throughout the market cycles. This is what will ultimately create greater stability for our employees and communities, while ensuring we can continue to provide the high quality, low carbon products that are in demand by our customers around the world,” Kayne said.

Canfor will undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the availability of economic fibre and a thorough project financial analysis, supporting a final investment decision by the end of the second quarter. Both facilities will be closed following an orderly wind down of operations that is expected to conclude early in the second quarter of 2023 and will remove approximately 750 million board feet of annual production capacity.

Forests Minister Bruce Ralston issued a statement in response to Canfor’s announcement, saying the B.C. government is “committed to supporting forestry workers impacted by closures,” and community support teams have been activated.

Click here for Canfor’s full statement.

Read the Forests Minister’s full statement.