New Partnership Will Allow Sans Group to Process Wood Waste into Value-Added Wood Products

Sans Group — which operates sawmills and remanufacturing plants in Port Alberni and on the mainland in B.C. — announced on Wednesday (1-26-22) that it has entered into a strategic lumber supply agreement with Seaton Forest Products, based in Smithers.

The agreement allows San Group to process waste wood from Seaton into commodity grade lumber products. Seaton Forest Products uses a specialized process of manufacturing waste wood using dry, under-utilized logs that would otherwise have been left in the forest. The waste wood logs are instead turned into cants. The San Group intends to take these cants and turns them into value-added wood products such as tables, molding, chairs, and door frames.

Kamal Sanghera, CEO of San Group, acknowledges that log availability is a concern for many forest products companies. But he argues that there is plenty of supply available, noting that the San Group has been investing over the past few years into British Columbia’s value-added wood products sector — which saves the environment and creates jobs.

“There’s enough supply out there, there’s enough natural resources out there,” he said during an announcement at the Port Alberni San Group office on January 22, 2022. “Right now, we have to use them intelligently. We have to process more in British Columbia.”