Norbord to indefinitely suspend mill operations in 100 Mile House, B.C.

Norbord Inc., a global producer of wood products, has announced plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its mill in 100 Mile House in B.C.'s central Interior.

The move will affect approximately 160 workers at the oriented strand board mill when operations stopin August.

The company said amountain pine beetle epidemic hasconstricted wood supply over the past decade. And major forest fires in the province further stunted supply and pushed up wood pricesmaking operations untenable.

"This is a difficult decision in response to extraordinary circumstances," said Peter Wijnbergen, Norbord's president andCEO, in a newsrelease.

Mayor Mitch Campsallof 100 Mile House says the announcement is devastating.

"Our community is going to suffer drastically because of this. It's a really bad event for us it's almost as bad as the fires," Campsall said in an interview with CBC, referring to the wildfires that threatened100 Mile House the last two years.

Extraordinary circumstances

This isn't the first time production has buckled under high costs in the area. West Fraser Timber cut productionin the first quarter of 2019in some of its markets, including 100 Mile House. It again halted operations for two weeks later in May.

• Logging happening in 100 Mile House area

But the suspension by Norbord with an annual production capacity of 440 million sq. ft. is expected to be worse for businesses in 100 Mile House.

"You have to think about 10 per centof our employees in the whole area are going to lose their jobs. That hurts really bad," said Campsall. "These curtailments that will be coming up are absolutely brutal to small businesses."

Campsall wants a coordinated, province-wide effort to improve wood supply and tackle the declineof millsin the area.

• In 2017: Norbord OSB mill in 100 Mile House, B.C., resumes production after wildfires

"I know that they [Norbord] have had issues with getting fibre. And how do you run a mill without any guarantee of a product to put through the mill?" saidCampsall.

"We need to be talking to the premier, to the forestry and to the ministry to look at how we can stop this from happening. It's throughout B.C., not just our small communities. It's all of us."