The President of Sinclar Group Forest Products has issued a response following the recent sawmill curtailments at three of its facilities.
Starting August 19th, Lakeland Mills in Prince George, Apollo Forest Products in Fort Saint James and Nechako Lumber in Vanderhoof will all be down for two weeks impacting about 300 employees.
President Greg Stewart explained to MyNechakoValleyNow.com why the curtailment was announced.
“In the industry, we are facing some very challenging times and it has to do with the high prices of logs and the market conditions, which don’t support those prices of logs.”
Stewart further states employees have a couple of options available on what to do during the time off.
“There will be employees who do have opportunities to take a vacation and for those who can’t and are subject to layoffs we will work with them to make sure they get the information they require to pursue employment insurance claims as necessary.”
However, on the positive side, The Premium Pellett operation will continue to run as will the Prince George District Energy System.
“The district energy system will not be impacted by the downturn and we will continue to generate the heat required for the city using residuals that we have stockpiled.”
Production will be reduced by 25 million board feet.