Canfor will close its Chetwynd sawmill and rebuild its Houston mill to align BC operations with available fibre. In related news: reactions by Forest Minister Ralston, Union head Bromley, and RBC analyst Paul Quinn. In other Business news: BC joins Ottawa on US lumber duties, as deposits paid create a $US 6.1 billion incentive to negotiate; BC pulp & paper group praises decision on fire-damaged timber; John Brink say BC’s value-added decision is too small; and Forest Ontario’s Rob Keen receives achievement award.
In Forestry/Climate news: Canada launches conservation plan for Ontario; US reinstates roadless rule for Tongass National Forest; and Interfor gives up forest tenure as BC protects 75,000 hectares of old-growth forests near Revelstoke.
Finally, Bourbon makes forestry cool in the quest to save America’s White Oak.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
We join Ottawa in expressing our frustration after this week’s preliminary decision by the United States Department of Commerce that the U.S. will continue to apply unjustified duties on B.C. and Canadian softwood lumber exports to the U.S. …B.C. will always work with the federal government to stand up for the 50,000 hard-working people in our forest industry against these unwarranted duties. …We will continue to work with the Government of Canada and industry partners to advocate for a fair market for B.C. wood products, and vigorously defend against this unfair U.S. trade action on softwood lumber. This includes relentlessly pursuing litigation through all available avenues, including under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and the World Trade Organization. …Our government continues to stand with workers, their families and forestry communities as we work together to resolve this dispute.
Canadian softwood producers are positioned to reap large refunds after paying deposits totalling US$6.1-billion in U.S. lumber tariffs over the past six years… according to CIBC Capital Markets Hamir Patel. While the trade fight lingers, Mr. Patel said history is on the side of Canadian producers, who recouped 80 per cent of the U.S. lumber tariffs paid in the previous round of the dispute from 2001 to 2006. …Forest Economic Advisors Paul Jannke estimates that Canada’s share of U.S. lumber consumption has been steadily eroded, falling to 26 per cent last year, compared with nearly 33% in 2016. Mr. Jannke said that while there aren’t signs of a trade truce this year, there could be greater incentive to reach a pact if lumber prices sink further. …Mr. Patel said any softwood pact could take another 18 months to materialize, with refunds taking many more months to process before showing up in Canadian producers’ bank accounts in 2025. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
Taking more capacity out of BC. While Canfor has been proactive in shutting sawmills to balance its log demand to the declining log supply over the last decade, the company announced more closures. …The company plans an orderly wind-down of operations that will conclude in early Q223. The closures will remove approximately 750 mmfbm of annual production capacity, which we estimate represents ~11% of the company’s total capacity. …Canfor’s closure in Chetwynd is likely good news to West Fraser (which has a mill in the District), but this may be short-lived, as the BC government is expected to add further restrictions on the harvesting landbase to protect Woodland Caribou. The economic viability of Canfor’s Fort St. John sawmill was impacted last week by the Province government’s agreement with the Blueberry River First Nations. We suspect that by closing its Chetwynd sawmill, the company can transfer a portion of its wood supply to Fort St. John.
To better align manufacturing capacity in British Columbia with the available long-term fibre supply, Canfor Corporation is restructuring its B.C. operations by permanently closing its Chetwynd sawmill and pellet plant and temporarily closing its Houston sawmill for an extended period to facilitate a major redevelopment on the site. The Company intends to build a new, modern, globally competitive manufacturing facility that employs state of the art technology to produce high value products from the sustainable timber supply in the region. Project planning, scoping, preliminary engineering and budgeting are underway. …“We are making these difficult but necessary decisions to create a more sustainable operating footprint in B.C. Our goal is to match our mill capacity with the economically available fibre for harvest to enhance our ability to compete and to operate throughout the market cycles,” said Don Kayne, President and CEO. “…we are putting in place a comprehensive set of support mechanisms to help minimize the impacts of this transition.”
The PPPC released North American Printing & Writing Paper stats for December.
PRINCE GEORGE – As forestry operations across the province struggle to obtain adequate fibre to keep the gears turning on sawmills and pulp and paper mills, changes are being made. After calls from Joe Nemeth, Manager at the BC Pulp and Paper Coalition to fund a fire-damaged fibre recovery program, the province has sprung into action. The $50 million program will be administered by the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, targeted at salvaging fire-damaged stands across the province. Nemeth said this will aid pulp mills to keep the doors open for years to come, with big benefits especially in Southern BC where forest fires have burnt across landscapes in recent years. Northern BC will also see some benefit to the program. “This is a major positive step towards resolving the single biggest issue the B.C. forest sector is currently facing: lack of economic fibre.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. USDA’s final rule repeals the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule and restores longstanding roadless protections to 9.37 million acres of roadless areas that support the ecological, economic and cultural values of Southeastern Alaska. …At 16.7 million acres, the Tongass National Forest represents the largest intact tract of coastal temperate rainforest on earth and is considered critical for carbon sequestration and carbon storage to help mitigate climate change. …The announcement reflects the Administration’s commitment to strengthening nation-to-nation relationships and incorporating Indigenous knowledge, stewardship, and Tribal priorities into land management decision-making. …Repealing the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule, which exempted the Tongass from roadless protections, will return the inventoried roadless areas of the forest to management under the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibits road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas, with limited exceptions. 
