Calgary-based company Buffalo Rail and Infrastructure have announced the purchase of the Taylor pulp mill, acquiring discontinued assets from Canfor for $7 million, including over 300 acres of heavy industrial land.
The site will be repurposed into a multi-use industrial distribution and logistics hub to serve the region’s energy, agricultural and forestry industries, notes a press release.
“When one door closes, another one opens for this site. We, along with our stakeholders at Buffalo Rail, were able to establish new uses for the discontinued pulp mill that will optimize the site’s characteristics and support industrial growth in the region,” said Jarrett Zielinski, Buffalo President and CEO. “The multi-phased, multi-year development provides a much-needed response to the changing logistics and supply chains needs of industrial participants across multiple industries and sectors in Western Canada and beyond.”
The company plans to invest over $50 million dollars to convert the site, and anticipates 100 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs during the first phase of development, aiming for phase one to become operational around the second financial quarter of 2025.
“We appreciated working with Kevin Edgson and the folks at Canfor Pulp Products Inc. on this transaction and look forward to working with the community to develop this strategically important site,” added Robert Reimer, Chief Financial Officer of Buffalo. “The features of this site provide boundless opportunity to support the industrial growth forecast for the region.”
Taylor is home to around 1,300 people, located between the neighbouring communities of Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. Faced with fibre shortages, Canfor closed the mill at the end of 2021 as a temporary measure, but permanently extended the curtailments in 2023, formally ending 35 years of production.
Taylor was not the only community affected by mill closures, a pulp line in Prince George was closed by Canfor last year, also due to a fibre shortage. The Chetwynd sawmill was closed for the same reason, a loss of 200 jobs.
You can read the full press release here:
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