B.C.’s troubled forest industry has delivered another blow to the Okanagan.
Tolko’s Kelowna mill, which had been in the midst of a temporary shutdown, announced this afternoon that it is closing its doors indefinitely.
“This decision was not easy for us to make,” Tolko solid wood vice-president Troy Connolly said in a press release. “We are very disappointed to be in a position where we have to curtail the mill, particularly given the reasons for this extension are beyond our control. However, with lumber market prices at sustained low levels and high log costs in B.C., the mill cannot be cost-competitive.”
Tolko Kelowna’s six-week curtailment started on Aug. 6 and was supposed to end Monday. The 127 employees who were temporarily laid off for the last six weeks will continue to be out of work but will get 72 hours notice if the mill starts operating again.
“The guys were all anticipating to go back to work next week full-time,” a source familiar with the situation told Castanet this afternoon. “They have been running this week — limited capacity — in the planer, but they called all the guys who were on-site today, and somebody delivered the bad news.”
Tolko’s Armstrong lumber, Armstrong plywood and White Valley veneer operations had downtime from Aug. 17 to Sept. 2, and its Heffley Creek plywood and veneer operation also slowed down from Aug. 24 to Sept. 2.
“On days like these, our hearts are heavy as we think of our colleagues and friends at Kelowna,” Connolly said. “It’s hard to know they are suffering today because of reasons that are beyond our control. We know our people in Kelowna have done everything in their power to make the mill successful. They have gone above and beyond. Sadly, this has nothing to do with them or their efforts. We simply cannot operate in current conditions.”
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the Okanagan Edge, a sister publication of KamloopsMatters.
