Skeena Sawmills Reopens Scales in Anticipation of Reopening on May 29th

BC’s Terrace Standard reported Tuesday (5-16-23) that Skeena Sawmills, which that has been shut down since early February, has reopened its scales today and has begun building log deck inventory in anticipation of the sawmill restarting on Monday, May 29th. Workers were being called back last week as Skeena accelerated its reopening plans.

Commenting on the reopening, Skeena Sawmills chief operating officer Greg DeMille told the newspaper:

“We will start the mill one shift with the focus on hopefully resuming full production capacity in the next two to three months when market conditions are projected to improve. Our strategy is to focus our production on industrial and residential timber products while still maintaining conventional lumber products for our existing customer base.”

Also affected by the closure was Skeena’s subsidiary, Skeena Bioenergy pellet plant, which is located next door to the sawmill. The bioenergy plant is now scheduled to re-open on Monday, June 5th.

According to the report, Skeena Sawmills has also asked the BC provincial government for $17.5 million to finance a three-year project it says will restore the mill and pellet plant to profitability. The money Skeena wants would come from the BC Manufacturing Jobs Funds announced earlier in the year. There’s up to $90 million to be spent over the next three years.