The Citizen has learned that the Clear Lake sawmill will be closing permanently, the latest victim in northern B.C. in a prolonged forestry downturn.
Canfor Corp. announced the decision this evening to permanently close the mill, located just southwest of Prince George off of Blackwater Road, on Jan. 13
Impacted are about 165 hourly-paid workers and another 20 management and staff.
Canfor spokesman Dave Lefebvre said the mill was being closed because of timber-supply issues, high costs and the continuing challenges in the U.S. lumber market.
While Canfor has turned to China as an outlet for its lumber in the face of a historic collapse in the U.S. housing market, Clear Lake, as a stud mill producing lumber for traditional North American home framing, is closely tied to the U.S. market.
Lefebvre noted that the company has also had to go farther afield for logs, increasing transportation costs. The mountain pine beetle epidemic is expected to decrease the available timber supply in the near future.
Lefebvre stressed the closure was not a reflection of the workers at the mill, nor did it have anything to do with a vote by workers recently to reinstate a $5 per hour-decrease taken in the summer of 2009.
See Thursday's Citizen for more.
