VANCOUVER, B.C. - Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF) permanently closed its South Vancouver Island Remanufacturing lumber plant, part of its move to consolidating operations in its recapitalized facilities.
Remanufacturing lumber refers to processing and cutting previously milled lumber, including lumber cut for industrial or wood-packaging use, creating dimensions that are not usually processed at a primary sawmill. including resawing to split lumber into thinner boards.
The South Island Remanufacturing plant was indefinitely curtailed in March 2016, and Western Forest says employees were provided jobs at other operations or received compensation for the closure.
The investment in and consolidation of operations is part of Western's broader strategic plan to become globally competitive. Since 2011, Western has invested over $260 million in recapitalizing its Coastal operations, including more than $94 million in strategic investments towards upgrading technology, with a focus on reducing costs while maintaining product flexibility.
Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and is the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer. The Company has an annual available harvest of approximately 6.1 million cubic metres of timber, of which approximately 5.9 million cubic metres is from Crown lands. Western has a lumber capacity in excess of 1.1 billion board feet from seven sawmills and one remanufacturing plant.
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