The decision follows an internal evaluation of the company’s sawmills after the acquisition of Cascadia earlier this year.
Western Forest Products will also reopen its Saltair sawmill on Vancouver Island, on February 7. The mill has been shut since October.
“The decision to close the New Westminster sawmill will allow us to remove the excess capacity in mills that handle the small- to mid-size logs and capitalise on the Saltair sawmill’s lower unit costs, additional sorting and longer lumber-length capabilities,” said president and CEO Reynold Hert.
The New Westminster mill has the capacity to produce 150 million board feet of lumber per year. Closure costs are estimated at C$16m-21m.
