Buchanan Forest Products is shutting down the its sawmills in Nakina and Longlac, Ontario in July.

The closures - blamed on a strong dollar, weak prices and a slumping U.S. housing market - will put more than 120 employees out of work. Currently there is only one shift operating at the mills.

A Buchanan executive says there is a slim hope the mills may reopen, but lumber prices would have rise and energy prices would have to drop.

At one time Buchanan Forest Products was one of the largest employers in the forestry sector in the region, operating nine lumber-producing facilities as well as Terrace Bay Pulp. The majority of those sawmills, including three in Thunder Bay are now either shut down or clearing out old inventory.

Buchanan vice-president Hartley Multimaki says Terrace Bay Pulp will not be affected by the shutdown at the Nakina and Longlac operations.

Sources:
2 More Mills Closing (CKDR Dryden)
Buchanan confirms layoffs in Nakina and Longlac (Thunder Bay's Source)

The U.S. Congress passed a bill yesterday that could wrap Canadian lumber imports in red tape and has the potential to impose limits beyond the restrictions already in the softwood lumber agreement.

The new legislation, added onto an unrelated farm bill by politicians sympathetic to the U.S. lumber lobby, requires importers to certify that all taxes have been paid on the lumber they receive. The bill includes enforcement measures, including intrusive company audits, penalties and fines.

This bill has the potential to add cost, and waste time. Hundreds of thousands of lumber shipments will require certification by the importer - often the same Canadian company that is exporting the wood - adding anywhere from $5 to $20 in paperwork costs per shipment.

Most of our lumber exports are a money-losing exercise already - so adding another $5-$20 a shipment is not helpful. John Allan, president of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries said, "The bill has some provisions that if there is enough political pressure, this could become fairly intrusive," referring to the power it gives the U.S. Treasury to audit companies.

President George Bush has said he will veto the farm bill, which passed Wednesday in the House of Representatives and has been sent to the Senate. But a head-count of legislators supporting it shows his veto will be over-ridden by Congress.

Washington trade lawyer Elliott Feldman said this bill "is plainly a harassment. It's bureaucratic, it requires more paperwork." He said, "the Americans have, for the first time in the 25-year-long dispute, written softwood lumber into their legislation. He described it as a flagrant breach of the 2006 softwood lumber agreement, under which Canada monitors exports and collects the appropriate tax.

Read more:
U.S. ties Canadian lumber exporters in red tape - Congress passes bill that will make life even harder for ailing forestry industry (Vancouver Sun)

Neenah Paper is turning over its Pictou, Nova Scotia mill to Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp..

Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp. is a newly formed company operated by Atlas Holdings LLC of Greenwich, Conn., and Blue Wolf Capital Management LLC of New York.

Neenah Paper expects to pay approximately $15 million to $20 million to Northern Pulp to assist the new company in its transition to stand-alone status. The deal is a less costly alternative than shutting the plant down, said company spokesman Bill McCarthy.

Northern Pulp Nova Scotia will assume all assets, liabilities, contracts and pension obligations of the mill. The Pictou plant has one machine with annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes, mostly northern bleached softwood kraft pulp.

The sale covers only the mill and associated woodlands operations, while Neenah Paper retains 2,000 square kilometres of Nova Scotia timberland and will supply fibre to the mill.

Sources:
Neenah Paper to Complete Transformation to Premium and Specialty Paper Company with Agreement to Sell Pictou Pulp Mill (Neenah Paper Press Release)
Neenah Paper divests Pictou pulp mill (Toronto Star)
Neenah turning over Nova Scotia mill operations (Forbes)

Western Forest Products is putting up more of its properties up for sale to pay down their debt.

Western Forest Products posted a $17 million loss for the first quarter of 2008.

Property up for sale will include the site of its former pulp mill at Squamish, B.C. and 26,000 hectares of forestlands (mostly on Vancouver Island). Western Forest Products estimates it has from $100 million to $130 million of non-core assets up for sale.

Western Forest Products has provisionally sold 2,500 hectares of land on southwest Vancouver Island to a real estate developer. The potential development of those lands has generated local opposition prompting regional authorities to pass a new zoning bylaw that restricts lot size to 120 hectares (although the president of Western Forest Products, Reynold Hert, said the company has successfully had the lands grandfathered into older zoning bylaws.)

Read more:
WFP to sell off 26,000 hectares -Investment bankers have been engaged to find a buyer (Times Colonist)

Interior panelboard manufacturer Ainsworth Lumber reported Wednesday a loss of $88.2 million, or $6.02 a share, on sales of $88.5 million and warned investors that its ability to stay in business is now up to its creditors and suppliers.

"We continued to experience negative operating margins and net cash outflows. As a result, our ability to continue as a going concern will be dependent upon the continuing support of our creditors and suppliers, obtaining additional financing or refinancing our capital structure and, ultimately, achieving profitable operations," the company said in a news release outlining the results.

Ainsworth Lumber is a 50 year old company with operations in British Columbia, Alberta, and the United States.

Ainsworth said prime factors in the quarterly loss result from mill curtailments, lower prices for oriented strand board and the high Canadian dollar.

Source:
50-year-old lumber company struggles with $88.2-million loss - Ainsworth Lumber says its fate is up to creditors, suppliers

The British Columbia Supreme Court has granted an order allowing Coe Newes McGehee to be put up for sale.

“The company’s plan is to be sold as a going concern. We want to keep as much of the business and value of the business intact pending a sale,” Interim CEO David Bowra said. “I think several parties are interested in taking over the business and operating it as a going concern.”

The date for offers has been set for the third week of June, although offers can be entertained earlier, subject to court approval.

Read more: Court approves sale of company (Salmon Arm Observer)

Read more about being laid off from Coe Newes McGehee: Layoffs burn employees

Today was the Grand Closure of Weyerhaeuser's Kamloops sawmill.

To recognize the event and draw attention to the plight of the forest industry, the United Steelworkers (USW) union is holding a rally at 2 p.m. outside the sawmill plant’s gates.

Billed as a Grand Closure event, the rally will feature a barbecue and guest speakers, all to give a proper farewell to the 200 jobs provided by the mill.

The closure of this sawmill was announced in February.

Source:
Farewell to Weyco mill (Kamloops This Week)

Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, was in Kamloops on Friday to announce plans for $129 million promised by Ottawa earlier this year, which will be used to set up three new programs aimed at helping workers and communities hit hard by an ailing forest industry.

Three new programs:

1. $17.25 million or a tuition-assistance fund that will give workers facing layoffs the opportunity to upgrade their skills and education. The funding will cover tuition costs to a maximum of $5,000 per worker for one year. Individuals can apply to the fund beginning May 15.

2. $85.5 million to provide transitional assistance for retiring older workers. Individuals can apply to the fund through a secretariat by mid June.

3. $26.25 million will go toward a job-opportunities program that will support silviculture and reforestation in urban areas, forest and fuel management and other forestry programs to provide short-term employment opportunities.

The Northern towns of Mackenzie and Fort St. James, British Columbia, will get $2 million in direct assistance.

Source:
Forestry industry gets $129 million (Kamloops This Week)

The leadership of the Grassy Narrows First Nations is set to sign a memorandum of understanding today with the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield.

Chief Simon Fobister has said that they'd come to terms with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on a process meant to find ways to protect and manage the community's traditional lands. The Grassy Narrows First Nations is optimistic about the beginning of this new relationship, but they are not yet ready to lift their moratorium on clear-cutting within its traditional territory.

"We are engaging in a process to determine what can and will best work for forest management and use in the area, and we hope and expect the MNR will engage with us with an open mind about this. Until that determination is made, we are not agreeing with current clear-cutting harvesting regimes and practices in the Whiskey Jack Forest," said Chief Simon Fobister.

Read more: Grassy Narrows to sign agreement with MNR - Grassy Narrows First Nations leadership is set to sign a memorandum of understanding today with the MInister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield. (Kenora Daily Miner and News)

Catch up on the history of the Grassy Narrows - Boise stops buying lumber from the Grassy Narrows territory

Cascades Inc. reported a new loss of $4 million in its first quarter of 2008.

To regain profitability, Cascades is planning to cut 155 jobs. Just a year ago, Cascades reported a net profit of $22 million in its first quarter.

This year's net quarterly loss is being blamed on high fibre costs, a strong Canadian dollar and challenging business conditions in the company's boxboard and tissue paper sectors.

The job cuts will be spread across Cascades' operations in Quebec, as well as its operations in the United States. Layoffs began in the fall and will continue until the end of the summer.

There will also be several temporary plant shutdowns of varying durations.

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, transforms and markets packaging and tissue mainly from recycled fibres. The company employs close to 14,000 employees at operations in Canada, the United States and Europe. Its Norampac unit is Canada's largest cardboard maker.

Source:
Cascades announces job cuts to stem first-quarter net loss of $4 million (Brandon Sun Online)

Pope & Talbot received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher S. Sontachi to transition out of reorganization and begin liquidating its remaining mills - a worst-case scenario for the company's remaining employees who will likely lose their jobs.

Pope & Talbot will now move from Chapter 11 reorganization into Chapter 7 liquidation.

On May 13th, their pulp mill and plant in Halsey, Oregon will be auctioned.

Sources:
Pope & Talbot to liquidate remaining assets (Portland Business Journal)
Harmac closure a heavy blow (Nanaimo News Bulletin)

Neenah Paper has reported a loss in their latest quarterly results. Consolidated sales of $206 million were reported in the first quarter of 2008, a gain of 19 percent, but operating income was off $1.5 million compared with the year ago period.

This spring, Neenah Paper put its Abercrombie Point pulp mill at Pictou, Nova Scotia up for sale, as well as its associated woodlands. Neenah Paper expects the mill to be sold within a year. In its quarterly results, Neenah Paper reported the net loss from the discontinued operations of the Pictou mill as $81 million, or $5.46 per share.

"The continued rise in costs of raw materials and energy, coupled with slowing economic growth, are clearly impacting current results," said Sean Erwin, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Read more:
Neenah Paper Reports 2008 First Quarter Results (Neenah Paper Press Release)
Neenah puts Pictou mill up for sale (Nova Scotia Business Journal's Daily Business Buzz)
http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=133530&sc=49 (The News)
Neenah Paper records sales gain (Oshkosh, Northwestern)

Back in early April, Domtar announced that it would be dropping a shift at its Timmins, Ontario sawmill on May 19th.

Domtar has recently confirmed that the shift elimination will result in the layoff of 30-35 people.

The layoff is for an undetermined amount of time.

Source:
Up to 35 jobs lost; Domtar official confirms layoffs at Timmins mill (Timmins Press)

The forestry high-tech equipment manufacturer, Coe Newnes McGehee, let 105 employees go yesterday in Salmon Arm. There were no vacation pay outs or severance packages. The company simply had no money to pay out.

The remaining 215 employees will continue to work while the future of the company is unknown.

On April 30th, Coe Newnes McGehee was granted creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Video coverage: Bad news at Newnes - Video (CHBC News)

AbitibiBowater Inc. has plans to shed $500 million of assets by the end of the year as it deals with slumping demand for paper and a heavy debt load.

The first thing to go is AbitibiBowater's South Korean paper mill that has been put up for sale.

Along with the Korean mill, the company is willing to part with forestlands, sawmills, hydroelectric sites and other assets.

Source:
AbitibiBowater to sell Korean paper mill (Globe and Mail)