Roseburg Forest Products will expand its operations in the southeastern United States with the construction of a high-capacity lumber mill in the town of Weldon, North Carolina.
The new 375,000-square-foot facility will be called Roanoke Valley Lumber and will be located on approximately 200 acres of land in Halifax County. Construction on the state-of-the-art sawmill is expected to begin in the 1Q 2022, with startup scheduled for later that year. Roanoke Valley Lumber will be one of the highest-capacity sawmills on the East Coast, capable of producing as many as 400 million board feet of dimensional lumber per year.
“Low interest rates, a surge in home remodeling, and growing demand for single-family housing are pushing the industry to increase domestic lumber production capacity as quickly as possible,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery said.
Once completed, the mill will make Roseburg a significant employer in the area, with 137 new jobs anticipated over the first two years.
Roseburg currently has 14 manufacturing facilities in North America, including the country’s second largest short lumber stud mill in Dillard, Ore. The company carefully selected the site for this new mill, with criteria including market demand, business climate, and workforce readiness at the top of the list. The selected site’s proximity to the company’s Roanoke Rapids timber management office was a factor, as well.
Roseburg has contracted with BID Group to design, build and equip the sawmill complex.
