CONIFEX DEAL CLOSES
Conifex Timber Inc. has announced that it has completed the acquisition of some of the Mackenzie, B.C. assets of Abitibi-Consolidated of Canada, including two sawmill complexes with a combined annual production capacity of 445 million bf of lumber (on a two shift basis).
In addition, the deal provides Conifex with a forest licence with an annual allowable cut (AAC) of approximately 932,500 cubic metres, a steam/power plant and associated turbine and boiler, and a paper mill (excluding the head box). Conifex has said it plans on disposing of the paper mill, but will retain the power generation assets.
"We are pleased to have secured a fibre and manufacturing base in Mackenzie with such exciting future potential,” said Conifex CEO Ken Shields. “Now that Sinar Mas has purchased and plans to restart the idled NBSK pulp mill in Mackenzie, we look forward to working with the pulp mill and other stakeholders on a priority basis to develop an operating plan which will enable us to resume harvesting and manufacturing operations on a timely basis."
Conifex acquired a sawmill complex in Fort St. James, B.C. in August 2008 when it purchased a closed down Pope and Talbot mill. The Fort St. James mill started up on a one-shift basis in March 2009 and the company expects this mill to move to a two shift basis in the second half of 2010. Once the Fort St. James and Mackenzie mills are both operating on two shifts, the company will have an annual production capacity of 600 million bf of softwood lumber and will have an AAC of approximately 1.6 million cubic metres.
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