Canfor Pulp has announced that it will indefinitely suspend a production line at its Northwood facility in Prince George, British Columbia, due to a decline in the availability of economical fiber in the northern region of British Columbia. The suspension will result in a reduction of approximately 300,000 tons of kraft pulp in the market annually.
“While the region has a substantial supply of sustainably grown timber, harvest levels are well below the Annual Allowable Cut in part due to natural disturbances, but increasingly due to the impact of a number of policy decisions and regulatory complexity,’ said Kevin Edgson, president and CEO of Canfor Pulp. “The persistent shortage of economic fiber, especially in the Prince George region, has led to the closure or suspension of several sawmills, which in turn has drastically reduced the volume of chips available to meet the needs of our pulp operations. Despite exhaustive efforts, including expansion beyond our traditional operating region, there is simply not enough residual fiber to supply the current production capacity of all of our operations.”
Canfor Pulp currently operates two pulp production lines at its Northwood facility and one production line at its nearby Intercon facility. The company will continue to operate both lines at Northwood for the next several weeks, followed by an orderly wind-down of one line at the beginning of the third quarter. This capacity reduction will impact approximately 220 jobs at Canfor Pulp.
Edgson continued, “We are frustrated and disheartened to have to make this decision and know that it has a significant impact on our employees, their families, local businesses, and the community. We have established a transition team and will work with our union to support our employees as we plan for an orderly closure.”
With the reduction of one line at Northwood, Canfor Pulp will have a total annual capacity of 480,000 tons of market pulp. Canfor Pulp’s specialty paper facility in Prince George will continue to operate with a total annual capacity of 140,000 tons of kraft paper.
