NB OSB MILL MAY OPEN
It’s beginning to look like a shuttered oriented strand board (OSB) plant in New Brunswick may have a new lease on life following recent comments from the current owners, Weyerhaeuser, and Montreal, Que.-based TAG Enterprises.
The mill, which is located in Miramichi, New Brunswick and employed about 150 people when it was operating, has been closed for three years. An on-line news article late last week in New Brunswick’s Times & Transcript, says Weyerhaeuser has been in negotiations with TAG for almost a year and that several deadlines have come and gone. The article also says TAG president and CEO Jean-Yves Cardinal has maintained the company has been moving towards taking over the plant despite the delays.
The latest speculation on a deal being reached in the near future was fueled by a new website for TAG – www.tagmiramichi.com. The site includes job postings at the mill, contact information, and indicates an anticipated start-up date for the plant of September 2010. The Times & Transcript article said Cardinal “confirmed” the website, but “stopped short” of confirming the deal has been finalized. The publication also said they received an e-mail from Weyerhaeuser spokesperson Wayne Roznowski stating, “the keys to the mill haven’t been turned over yet, but everything was moving in that direction.”
The province of New Brunswick has already approved a Crown wood allocation that would see almost 278,000 cubic metres of timber directed to the mill and New Brunswick premier Shawn Graham and area MLAs have said the re-opening of the mill would be between the two parties – Weyerhaeuser and TAG. In addition to the 150 mill jobs, the re-opening could create more than 200 spinoff jobs in the local area.
|
