Vancouver-headquartered Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) continues to restructure its lumber production as the forest industry struggles with poor lumber markets and a high Canadian dollar.
The company is reducing its shifts at four sawmills in B.C. It's reducing from three shifts to two at its Rustad, Clear Lake, Polar and Mackenzie sawmills.
The curtailments will affect about 300 employees, who will be laid off indefinitely. They will also reduce the company's annual lumber production by 355 million board feet.
The move comes weeks after Canfor announced it was permanently closing its panel and fibre mill in New Westminster by January 8, 2008. The mill employed 126 people.
Earlier this month, the company reported a 10% drop in quarterly sales for its third quarter ending September 30, 2007. Sales dropped to $837.4 million compared with sales of $927.7 million in the same period a year earlier. It recorded a net loss of $42.1 million compared with a net loss of $51.6 million in the third quarter of 2006.
Canfor's share price range during the past week: between $7.93 and $8.08; 52-week high: $13.98; 52-week low: $7.80.