No NCP ? Blame the Beetle

Thursday, July 31, 2008 08:17 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Canfor V.P of Marketing, Mark Feldinger says the mountain pine beetle had an impact on the decision not to rebuild North Central Plywood. “Dead dried mountain pine beetle logs cannot be used for plywood once it has checked (cracked), and there has been a reduced supply of Douglas fir.”

During the conference call this morning to discuss the second quarter results, Canfor executives would not say how much it might have cost to rebuild the mill, saying it was a moot point given the fibre supply.

Feldinger says there has been no decision at this point on what Canfor plans to do with the site, “The site is a leased site. We will be exploring our options over the next number of months.”

Canfor has noted a net benefit of $36 million dollars in insurance dollars from the burned out NCP and will put $13.5 million of those dollars into the immediate construction of a wood residue energy plant at it’s Ft. St. Jhn sawmill. The energy plant will provide enough energy to dry the wood, replacing the current energy source of natural gas. While the energy plant is not expected to create jobs, it does show Canfor has confidence in the Peace Region “Particularly in the green fibre supply ” says Feldinger.

The decision to not rebuild NCP means 280 people are left on the unemployment line. CEO Jim Shepard offered thanks to each and every employee of NCp saying their hard work and dedication was much appreciated. He also says Canfor has been trying to find work for some of the employees at other Canfor operations, however, since most of the other operations are under a different union, there are some challenges when it comes to work placements.

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Posted on Thursday, July 31, 2008 08:17 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: jonnypg on July 31 2008 9:30 AM

This came as no surprise!

Posted by: newtechguy on July 31 2008 9:34 AM

I predicted this outcome. Canfor execse "high fiving" each other over the loss of this mill.

My heart goes out to the employees.

Good luck to all of you.

NTG

Posted by: palomino on July 31 2008 9:36 AM

On the basis of the recent news that Canfor will not be re-opening this plant, it looks like what we have here turned out to be a "fire sale" of an ageing plant with a lot of old equipment needing updating, that had effectively run out of a dependable timber supply to keep it running, as well as dependable market to sell its only product to !

Appears the fire could have been a blessing in disguise for Canfor.

Reminds me of the Yellowhead Inn fire a few years back !

Posted by: Shellshadow on July 31 2008 2:58 PM

There was a time when the forests looked after themselves. The trees were huge and healthy. Then man decided that they owned them and could treat a forest like a garden. When a fire broke out, man RAN to put it out. Man knew what was best!!
If you look at a stand of trees that man plants to replace the ones they cut down, you can clearly see that it looks nothing like it was. A natural forest has more than one type a tree in a stand.
Man is to blame for the state of forestry not the beetle or global warming. MAN!!
The trees are what clean our air yet you can stand anywhere and see huge stands of them missing replaced with spindly new ones that will take 50 more years to mature. How much you want to bet that man will be standing ready and poised to cut them down the instant they are ready. Meanwhile the mills that get the wood ready continously spew crap into our air on a daily basis and less and less trees are left to clean and filter that up.
Man got so educated and dreamed up new and faster ways to cut more trees. The mills went from thousands of board feet to millions of board feet a day. Now the market is flooded and we blame natural causes for it. I may have the figures wrong and I am sorry for that but it is the point of what I say that should be important.
I cherish the trees on my wee half acre and thank god for the shade they give me. They will never die by my hand or anyone elses. :)

Posted by: MrPG on July 31 2008 3:11 PM

How many rooms do you have in your mud hut, Shell?

Posted by: Shellshadow on July 31 2008 3:44 PM

Heee hee hee!! *GRIN

I just knew someone would slap the "do you not live in a house" on me. You missed my whole point but that is understandable. :) I have a two bedroom house MrPG, very small by todays standards. And yes, like everyone else I have a carbon foot print and have fallen into the easy way of life. If I had the choice though I would love to live like we did say 100 years ago. Horse and wagon and a huge garden with food that actually tastes like food. But like I said, I am far from perfect! :) I do however have thoughts and oppinions and that is all that was. You can disregard everything I think is wrong with our forests and chalk it up to the beatles and global warming. I respect that. Call it the rantings of a old woman who wishes man would take responsibility for their mistakes.
Cheers to you MrPG and have a nice day!

Posted by: MrPG on July 31 2008 4:07 PM

I knew that you weren't perfect Shell, nobody is. The oldtimers always say that it was better in 'the good old days', but unfortunately we can't go back. In 50 years will we look back on this time as the 'good old days'? I suspect so.

Me personally, I choose not to focus on what was but more in the present and future. The past is a nice place to visit, but it's not healthy to live there.

Posted by: BCPilotguy on July 31 2008 7:30 PM

No NCP? Blame the city firefighters who allowed the fire to burn that the mill firefighters had under control.