News in mill capacity changes

Resolute Forest Products Inc., announced on Thursday (6-10-21) that the company was making an additional capital investment of $50 million in its wood products operations to support its continued growth.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LP) announced that on Tuesday (6-8-21), it had broken ground on a $150 million conversion project at their mill in New Limerick, Maine (commonly known as LP Houlton) to turn out the LP siding and trim products.

Canfor Corporation announced today (6-8-21) that it will be investing approximately $160 million USD to construct a new, state-of-the-art sawmill near DeRidder, Louisiana. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 250 million board feet on a two-shift basis and will directly employ about 130 people, plus create significant additional indirect jobs.

On Wednesday, June 3, 2021, San Group announced that over the next year it plans to invest $100 million (CAD) into its Port Alberni forestry operations. There are four projects that will receive money from the investment. The largest portion of the investment of $50-60 million is part of an agreement to ship lumber via container ships from the city’s deep seaport.

According to the Federal Reserve Board, North American softwood sawmill capacity is at its greatest level since the Great Recession. Capacity increased by 1.4 billion board feet in the last year. And the vast majority of that increased capacity — 1.1 million board feet — is coming from the Southern U.S.

A ribbon cutting ceremony held today (5-26-21) marked the opening of Delmarva Lumber Company. Delmarva is located on former site of the Cropper Bros. Lumber Company in Willards, MD, which was closed in 2018. Rickards says the mill has over one million board feet of timber ready to start being shipped.

Anthony Timberlands Inc. (ATI), Arkansas’s third-largest forest products manufacturer, announced on Wednesday (5-19-21) that they will be investing $10 million in improvement to their 75-year-old pine sawmill in Malvern, Arkansas over the next six to eight months.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Weyerhaeuser Corporation have jointly announced that the company plans to make a two-phased $157 million capital investment in its Holden, Louisiana facility. Weyerhaeuser plans to upgrade and modernize the sawmill to produce longer-length lumber, add a new planer mill, and upgrade and add two new continuous dry kilns for increased drying capacity.

EACOM Timber Corporation has announced that they are making an investment of $7.7 million (CAD) to equip their Matagami, Quebec sawmill with a new state-of-the-art continuous kiln (CDK). The CDK will allow lumber to be dried 24-hours a day without interruption at the facility.

Hankins Lumber Company of Grenada County Mississippi is investing more than $12 million into a sawmill that will be called Hankins Timbers. The facility will produce about 40 million board feet per year.