From what I can find,this bid for $225 mil.is from an Indonesian company?
I have never heard of them, and $225 mil.seems very low.
Now we wait to see if there are any other offers.
A company from that far away scares me a bit, and I can find no reference to sawmilling or lumber for them on their website.
Pulp and paper seems to be what they are into.
That might help the pulp mills at Harmac and Mackenzie,but what will it do for the sawmill business?
We should know tomorrow.

Andy - they aren't buying the sawmill business - they only bid on the three pulp mills.

Ft. St. James is not in this equation.

Thanks Parrothead, but I understand that.
The rumour is that another company affiliated with Sinar Mas is bidding on the sawmill end of P&T?
Not sure who it would be or if it is even true.
I do know there is at least one bid for Fort St.James.

Interfor already bought Midway, Grand Forks and Castlegar from Pope and Talbot.

I heard they laid off all the staff already. So maybe in their mind they just bought the timber rights......

Simply buying to obtain the timber rights is the scary part,and a major concern for people in places like Fort St.James and Mackenzie,and others as well.
The provincial government will NOT commit to saying that a buyer will not be allowed to do this.
As it stands now,buying the company does not mean they will have to run the sawmill.
It used to,when they had to mill it where they cut it,but not anymore, and we can blame the government for that.
At least that's the way I understand it,because it is almost impossible to get a straight answer from our elected officals.
Rustad was asked that question recently,and he said that he would fight to see that didn't happen,but legally,they buyers CAN do that.
Perhaps someone else out there knows more about this?

I had read that too. That a bid had come in for the remaining 2 mills (Midway and Fort St. James-that was for the early stalking horse bid deadline) but names were being withheld.
I would think at this point they would be bought for their timber value with future consideration in mind -and would be surprised to see them operational in 2008.

As much as I would hate to see that happen justamom and realitysetsin,I suspect there may be some truth in it.
We will know in a day or two if a sale is completed,but it may take a while longer to find out if these mills will survive.
Then we also have to consider whether or not it is even worth a buyer starting up these mills, given the market conditions and economics right now.
Nasty business!
Fingers and toes crossed for the people in these communities!

And another thing...the Pine Beetle wood is fast becoming fit for little else but woodchips,good only for pulp, and that will get worse as time goes on.
So where does that leave the sawmills and the limber industry in general?
Tough question.

This question of purchasing these mills-limber has been in my mind for quite sometime.
I think anyone in any of these communities are wondering the same at this point.

When these assets are purchased do they have to be run as is? where is ?...

It's not like they are buying an existing business- they are bidding on assets of a bankruptsy . So what rules would apply?

Is there anything stopping bidders from relocating products, equipement etc?..
I know some of these mills are registered, but does that change when it becomes protected under the bankruptsy act? and sold through auction?

The whole developed world is desperately looking for an alternative to the trillions of plastic bags annually which are not bio-degradable, made from a a non-renewable material (oil) and are overwhelming landfills everywhere.

Committees are being formed and endless very expensive studies conducted to find a better alternative!

So far: no solution - unless the oil industry keeps it locked up!

I just had an unbelievable idea and I might just rush out and get a worldwide patent on it:

PAPER BAGS!

They are bio-degradable and made from a green house gas NEUTRAL commodity, which is plentiful here: WOOD!

How about a trade mission to China pushing the sale of Made In B.C. paper bags?

;-)

What a hugely stupid idea, selling logging related companies to the Chinese, who are devastating the environment everywhere they go. Check out the rain forests of Asia to see what happens when the Chinese come in to the picture. Not that people in this area care about the environment...

Andyfreeze: You are mistaken. The dead trees are highly valued by wildlife. Leave them and the animals of this province will thrive. Keep clear cutting and you'll continue to watch them decline. The Salmon will be a found only in history books. But then your pay check is more important than future generations, eh?

Diplomat: You are also mistaken. We don't need plastic or paper for bags, we can use material made from Hemp. A Hemp bag will last a decade or more if cared for. How long will paper last? The trip home from the store? So this is your logic: Cut a tree down that takes a generation to grow in order to produce a product that lasts mere hours? This makes sense to you? In contrast a crop of hemp takes one growing season - 5 or 6 months - to produce a product that will last many years. This approach is clearly superior as it is sustainable... your approach spells the doom for any remaining forests and the creatures that live in them. In the end you've solved nothing and in fact doomed all of us to a less liveble world.

I have to look at a calender every day to remind myself that I'm living in the 21st century because looking around this region and how people still think I'd swear it's really 1885. Nothing has changed. There is still not a small bit of awareness that nature cannot be endlessly exploited.

We are living just like cancer cells live, consuming everything in our path without the slightest awareness that we can consume until we kill our host. Cancer has no brain... just like the current crop of humans.

If you want Chinese money go after their tourist dollars. This is sustainable. Allowing them to mow down BC's forests is not. Chinese tourists will want to watch Griz catch Salmon. Doubtful many of them are highly attracted to photographing stumps in a clear cut.

Start thinking sustainable people!!

Paper bags...wow!...didn't they use to make them back in the "olden days" before everyone got too damn busy to care about the enviroment???
What an amazing concept diplomat!
:-)

Yes kevin1006,as usual,we are ALL wrong aren't we?
Except you of course,because you have obviously discovered a way to live without money or a job!
How did the rest of us miss that?
Seems to me,you may have been smoking too much hemp!
It's like the guy in a group of 500 soldiers who is marching out of step and actually believes that HE is NOT out of step at all!
It's the other 499 guys who have the problem!
Excuse me now,I have to go harvest a bug killed tree for my family to EAT!!
:-)

kevin: "...your approach spells the doom for any remaining forests and the creatures that live in them. In the end you've solved nothing and in fact doomed all of us to a less liveble world."

No, not at all. We are looking for a use for the trees ALREADY DEAD from the beetle infestation!

Paper bags can be recycled, like newspaper and paper cartons! In fact, a lot of paper that we use daily is identified as 100% recycled paper!

Kevin: "Hemp bag will last a decade or more if cared for. How long will paper last? The trip home from the store? So this is your logic: Cut a tree down that takes a generation to grow..."

The trees are already DEAD, deceased, cold, without life, shuffled off the mortal coil!

I don't relish the idea of lugging around d pile of hemp bags (which get dirty after a few weeks of use) when I can use a paper bag and out in into the recycle bin after it has been used!

By the way, I use cloth bags when I go grocery shopping and have been doing so for years, before anybody else did - you are slinging insults without having facts!

Kevin;" Cancer has no brain... just like the current crop of humans."

How do you (the only one with a brain!) manage to live in such low life company?

Must be very lonely at the top!

By the way: when someone closes a post this way *;-)* it means that the post is tongue-in-cheek and to be taken lightly! Do you know how to do that???

Good post, Andyfreeze!

Now let's make paper bags from beetle wood and recycle them!

For once i agree with Kevin1006 that selling forest companies to the chinesse is a dumb idea! But he is left back in "1885" with his veiws of sustainability in forest practices. I wonder if he could identify a block that was logged 30+ years ago when driving by one on the highway.

"For once i agree with Kevin1006 that selling forest companies to the chinesse is a dumb idea!"

Why is it different from other foreign ownership? We are doing business with them as if they were a democratic country and city officials are forever making trips over there to entice them to come and do business here!

What gives?

Sorry should have elaborated more, like many others im worried they will buy it for the forest licence.

"...worried they will buy it for the forest licence."

Definitely a concern alright! We need the government(s) to regulate that aspect in our own interests; if there are loopholes they must be closed.

To Diplomat: I am glad to see you use cloth bags for groceries. I bought 20 of them from the Bay about 15 years ago. My wife sneaked about half of them to use as wrapping for Christmas presents, so I had to buy more from the BC Liquor stores a couple of years ago. I fully expect them to last at least another 15 years, when I shall probably be pushing up daisies - maybe I'll have them as my shroud and I can be recycled along with the bags!
:-()

We bought some from the Bay when it was still on Third Avenue. They get washed regularly, as do the ones from Overwaitea, Sears, etc.

Once a shopper gets used to them it becomes routine, just like seat belt usage.

However, it does happen occasionally that we are in a mall and not having any bags with us we have to take the plastic bag that they give us...

Paper would be fine...but usually it's plastic or nothing.

Cheers!

Do you realize that one Pine beetle killed tree, 14 inches in diameter at breeast height and 45 feet tall can make over 120,000 paper bags? And all that carbon used by the tree in making fibres is now trapped? Also that if a paper bag is not recycled it will continue to keep that carbon trapped as the paper biodegrades. Kevin1006 says using a tree that takes a generation to grow for a product that lasts hours is stupid but cellulose is cellulose. One 20 year old northern tree yields about 650 kg of usable fibre whereas you would need about 1/2 acres of hemp for 8 years to yield the same amount. This takes up a much larger growing are and leeches far more nutrients from the soil than the tree does. By the way, do you all wash your reususble bags in recycled cold water with an environmentally safe detergent. God forbid that in the name of the environment you are using fresh water, energy to heat that water, and adding to the pollution of our rivers so you can feel good when you by your certified organic, grown within 100 km groceries.

Hee hee, slap, Ouch. Hmm I wonder if Kevmeister would scythe down a few acres of hemp or would he park his ass on a greenhouse gas chugging tractor. Just a soldier.

bwchristie:

That is a cool stat... 120,000 bags from one tree.

Kevin - I don't disagree with much of what you say, but what is the alternative to using wood? Paper bags are a pretty small % of what the trees havested from the FARM we call the forest go towards.

If we didn't build with wood, what would it be? Steel? Concrete? Mud?

Only one of these choices is even remotely sustainable.

Yes, indeed, I wash my cotton reusable shopping bags in recycled water. It comes down in rain, is sent from a lake to my tap, then to an outflow and the sea, where it evaporates and then comes down in rain again. Water is always recycled, it's the nature of things. I also use a phosphate free detergent and a cold water wash.

The rivers, by the way, do not get polluted as the municipal treatment plant where I live produces clean water as the effluent.

I don't eat certified organic food, I buy the regular stuff that most people buy, often shipped up from South America at this time of the year.

Any other carpings you would like me to address, bwchristie?