Boise Cascade Company Issues WARN Act Notice to Elgin Oregon Mill Employees

Boise Cascade Company (BCC) has issued a WARN Act notice to the employees at their Elgin Oregon facility, for the possible reduction of production effective January 1^st, 2021. According to BCC, the Elgin facility currently produces approximately 10% of the Company’s dry veneer production, the majority of which is sold as plywood and represents approximately 16% of Boise Cascade’s plywood sales. The plant has been profitable in Q2 & Q3 of 2020, as demand for plywood has been favorable. However, BCC points to a modification made by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) that will limit their usage of the waste and storm water systems. The new permit constraints create uncertainty around the future operations at the site. To that end, BCC has significantly reduced its purchases of logs for the Elgin operation considering the uncertainty created by the change in environmental constraints and possible curtailment. At the current time, the Company does not expect to have enough logs available to operate throughout the entire winter even if the open concerns with ODEQ are favorably resolved before the end of the year.