Tembec has announced further closures at its Elko and Canal Flats sawmills and a host of job losses.
The North American integrated forest products company said it would close the mills for two weeks from July 28 in response to the low demand for lumber and the suppressed US housing market.
The two mills were originally closed for a three-month period in January, which resulted in a production curtailment of 24,000 million board feet.
This has coincided with the laying off of 25 management and staff personnel “that simply could not be carried in these difficult times”.
The company also announced plans to extend curtailments at 12 other mills currently idled or taking downtime in Canada, reducing production by 642 million bd ft overall and bringing the total number of affected employees to 1,400.
“With these market conditions expected to continue for the next several quarters, significant action beyond that already taken is under way,” said Dennis Rounsville, executive vice-president and president of Tembec’s Forest Products Group.
“Some 800 employees are affected by the temporary downtime being taken and a further 600 affected by the indefinite idlings.”
Tembec said it planned to divert around 10% of its current production from the framing housing market in to “more stable and higher margin products” in order to tackle the current market climate.
