PRINCE GEORGE, BC—Sinclar Group Forest Products has permantly closed its Winton Global Lumber plant sites, which made dimension lumber for the housing market. Until placed on hiatus in 2008, the Winton plants employed 75 hourly employees at its Bear Lake Sawmill site and 59 hourly employees at its Prince George Planer

 “As a long-standing, family-run company that has been operating in Prince George for 50 years, we profoundly regret the decision we have had to make,” said Sinclar Group president Greg Stewart announcing the decision late last month. “Our biggest hope was that we could find some way to re-start operations and get people back to work. Unfortunately, prevailing market conditions prevent us from doing so.”

Sinclar Group cited as a reason the failure of the U.S. economy to restart the housing market, which has seen housing starts drop by more than half. As a result, lumber prices fell dramatically, eliminating the primary market for Winton Global products.

Winton Global Lumber is an independently owned and managed operation of Sinclar Group Forest Products, serving Asian and North American markets. It is the only unit of Sinclar engaged in producing dimension lumber – lumber in all dimensions and lengths, used in a number of building applications, including large-scale trusses, construction and finishing.