A plywood mill in Springfield and a veneer plant in Coburg will close immediately, with the loss of 86 and 42 jobs respectively.
“Weyerhaeuser made the difficult decision after a strategic review of the company’s veneer business,” said Cathy Slater, the company’s vice-president of veener technologies.
“There’s a shrinking demand for plywood panels because of the decline in housing starts and the increased availability of alternative products. After careful consideration of all the options, a decision was made to close the two facilities.”
The Springfield plywood mill has been operating on a reduced shiFT schedule since January, 2006. It has the capacity to produce 117,000 million ft2 of 3/8in plywood annually.
The Coburg plant had its production curtailed last October. It manufactures dry veneer for internal and external customers, with an annual capacity of 105,000 million ft2 of 3/8in veneer.
Both plants will be decommissioned during the next few months.
