News in mill capacity changes


Pacific BioEnergy Pellet Plant Permanently Closes

In December of 2021, Pacific BioEnergy announced that after 28-years of continuous operation it would be permanently closing its wood pellet plant in the Prince George B.C. area. PacBio said it had reached an agreement to assign some of its assets, including wood pellet long term sales contracts to the Drax Group.

Canfor to Reduce Production Capacity at Plateau Sawmill by 150 Million Board Feet

Canfor Corporation announced on Tuesday (2-15-22) the permanent reduction of 150 million board feet of production capacity at its Plateau Sawmill to resize the facility and align it with the available, sustainable timber supply in the region following the devastating impacts of the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation and other constraints on the timber harvesting land base.

Georgia-Pacific Announces $20 Million Investment in Alcolu, South Carolina OSB Mill

Georgia-Pacific has announced that it will be investing $20 million in its Alcolu, South Carolina OSB mill. The project’s focus will be to add on a third strander onto the facility. A strander is on the green-end of the facility, or where the logs enter the process. Once the logs are debarked, they go into the strander, which processes the wooden flakes used in the OSB process.

Western Forest Products Contemplating Operations Curtailment at its Chemainus Sawmill Starting Next Week Due to Log Shortage

In an email statement sent to CHEK (B.C.’s private television station) by a company spokesperson, Western Forest Products is considering curtailing operations at its Chemainus sawmill starting next week due to a log shortage. The email said that “Due to log supply challenges, we anticipate it may be necessary to temporarily curtail operations beginning sometime next week at our Chemainus sawmill.”

Saskatchewan Forest Industry to Benefit from British Columbia’s Reduced Timber Basket

Despite its vast and mature forests, Saskatchewan forestlands have been under-utilized. That is until now. Over the past several weeks, the province has announced a reallocation of its forest resources, primarily located north of Saskatoon, and that will result in sizeable forest industry investments. Those forestland reallocations are expected, over the next two years, to lead to over a $1 billion dollars (CAD) in new investments in Saskatchewan’s forest industry.

Teal Jones to Build New Sawmill Facility in Bossier Parish, Louisiana

Teal Jones, a 70-year-old, family-owned company based in British Columbia, Canada, today announced that the company is looking forward to bringing a $110.5 million Southern Yellow Pine lumber mill to Bossier Parish, Louisiana. To become a reality, the company is pursuing a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with local taxing entities. Teal Jones expects to source southern yellow pine timber from their landowner partners in this project, as well as other regional suppliers.