Vancouver-based forestry giant Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) announced Tuesday the successful restart of its Vavenby sawmill, which had been closed for more than two years.
The move was resulted from a $24 million capital investment at full production, Vavenby will add 240 million board feet of softwood lumber to Canfor’s annual capacity, the company said in a news release.
Canfor CEO Don Kayne said, “Our committed, exceptional workforce in Vavenby, the company’s capital investment program and the excellent work that government has done to partner with industry in developing new markets for our products has allowed us to restart this facility."
Increased global demand for wood is also helping make mills like Vavenby economically viable.
B.C.’s Minister of Environment Terry Lake said “It was exciting to see the restart of this sawmill, which will create 96 jobs at the mill by the end of September and a further 30 jobs in logging and trucking. The significance in a community the size of Vavenby-Clearwater can't be overstated, and emphasizes the continuing importance of the work to develop new markets for forest products.”
Jennifer Harrison
Twitter: JHarrisonBIV