Canfor curtailing production for four weeks, closing a mill in B.C.
by CM Staff
The pandemic and other local factors are blamed for both actions by the forest products company
VANCOUVER — Canfor Pulp Products Inc. is curtailing production at Prince George Pulp and Paper and Intercontinental Pulp for approximately four weeks starting July 6.
“We have made the difficult decision to temporarily curtail Prince George Pulp and Paper and Intercontinental Pulp due to the major global economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of economically viable fibre in the region,” said Don Kayne, Canfor Pulp’s CEO.
The curtailment will reduce Canfor Pulp’s production output by approximately 38,000 tonnes of market kraft pulp and 12,000 tonnes of kraft paper.
Canfor Pulp has three northern bleached softwood kraft pulp mills, one bleached chemi-thermo mechanical pulp mill, and one kraft paper mill in BC.
Canfor Corp., the integrated forest products company based in Vancouver, also announced the closing of its Isle Pierre sawmill, near Prince George.
The closure, to take effect in the third quarter, was blamed on an insufficient supply of viable timber following the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic, and the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the current one-shift operation, Isle Pierre sawmill has an annual production capacity of approximately 120 million board feet.
