Canfor Corp. Announces Continuation of Reduced Operating Schedules & Summer Downtime at Its Western Canadian Sawmills

Canfor Corporation on Thursday (5-26-22) announced the continuation of reduced operating schedules at its Western Canadian sawmills due to the ongoing global supply chain challenges. Canfor has been operating at approximately 80% of production capacity since late March of 2022.

Canfor also announced that it will be implementing two weeks of rotating downtime across its primary sawmills in July and August, which will help align production capacity with the sustainable timber supply and transportation availability. Canfor says that it will use this downtime to complete maintenance projects and other site activities to help mitigate the impact on employees.

These capacity reductions are expected to result in an incremental impact of approximately 275 million board feet by the end of August, in addition to the 100 million board feet reduction previously announced on March 30th.

In the press release, Canfor also said that the Western Canadian sawmills are anticipated to resume normal operating schedules following their respective summer downtime. Canfor will continue to assess and make adjustments to operating schedules as supply chain conditions evolve.

In a statement prepared for the press release, Canfor President and CEO Don Kaye said, “The global supply challenges are continuing to significantly limit our ability to transport products to our customers and our inventory levels remain very high. We are working to bring our inventory levels back into balance by reducing our production, while also working to meet the needs of our customers.”