The leading sawmilling/wood processing magazine in Canada, focusing on leading edge technology in this ever growing sector from British Columbia to Newfoundland.
 
 
 

From The Editor

Friday, July 30th

WESTERN MILL UP

Western Forest Products delivered some good news earlier this week when it announced the re-opening of the Ladysmith, B.C. sawmill.

The mill had been idle since the end of April, 2008 when it indefinitely closed due to poor market conditions. The scheduled re-start for the mill is September 7 and it will employ 29 workers on a one-shift basis.

At the same time, Western announced the ratification of a new labour agreement with Local 8 of the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada Union ("PPWC"), which represents the hourly employees at the Ladysmith sawmill. Key provisions of the agreement include: a four year term expiring on December 31, 2014 with annual wage increases of 0 , 0 , 2 , and 2 respectively. The last agreement with the PPWC expired on June 15, 2009.

Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer. They have an annual available harvest of approximately 7.4 million cubic metres of timber of which approximately 7.1 million cubic metres is from Crown lands. On the manufacturing side, the company has an annual lumber capacity in excess of 1.5 billion board feet from eight sawmills and four remanufacturing plants.

While the Western news was positive, two mills in nearby Washington State were down this week. Weyerhaeuser’s sawmill in Raymond, Wash. and Interfor’s sawmill in Port Angeles, Wash are both scheduled to reo-start next week, following the one-week hiatus. Frank Lumber in Lyons, Ore. is down for thee weeks for maintenance and is scheduled to re-start in August.

Bill Tice, Editor

Click here for previous news & views

Videos


AutoWraptor Wrap Station for staple-free tight film wrapping of lumber products

Show Stoppers

 

UPDATE on MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE report from WOOD MARKETS GROUP INC. Click here for the full press release.

 

WoodTech 2010 show in Portland, Ore. a success. Click here for a full report on event.

Watch here for an upate on the Washington State University Wood Composites Symposium in Seattle, WA, and more.

 

Events

More Events