Canfor Resumes Production at its Houston, BC, Sawmill, but Temporary Shutdown Still Scheduled for April

Canfor’s Houston, BC, sawmill facility resumed full production on February 6th, the Houston Today reported on Wednesday (2-15-22). The restart follows the completion of needed repairs to a computer room that controls the operations of the trimmer saws, which was damaged by a fire on January 22nd.

A Canfor official told the paper that the full re-opening of the sawmill means Canfor can keep to its schedule of running until April and then temporarily closing down, affecting nearly 350 direct employees as well as those who cut and deliver logs and provide services.

Canfor is calling the closure temporary, but the company added that while it wants to replace its mill with one it says will be more efficient and able to run through the ups and downs of the lumber market, that decision will not be made until June. If a replacement decision is made, a new facility won’t be ready for at least two years.

Ward also told the Houston Today that Canfor is looking at ways to reduce the impact of any closure:

“Selling logs to other companies is an option we will be exploring in an effort to keep our contractors working while the Houston facility is down. We believe in the long-term fiber supply here. We will be maintaining our wood license and we’re developing plans for our woodland’s activities through the closure. It’s important to us that we support our contractor base for the long-term and we’re looking at how we can maintain some activity through the transition.”