The news that everyone saw coming, but nobody wanted to happen – Western Forest Products has announced the permanent closure of Alberni Pacific Division.
Over the past year the sawmill has been the target of multiple curtailments blamed on lack of logs, old growth harvest reductions and market conditions.
Last year WFP and partners Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited and the Huu-ay-aht First Nation hired the Beck Group to look at the long-term economic viabilty of APD which they concluded was “very limited”.
The company says it has a working group that includes the United Steelworkers union and Indigenous partners that will spend the next 90 days exploring potential industrial manufacturing options for the facility.
Approximately 90 millworkers are affected by the closure.
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