Tembec announced today that on June 1 it plans to shut down three of its sawmills for five weeks. The Bйarn, Cochrane and Canal Flats mills - located in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, respectively - have been hard hit by the unwarranted and illegal countervailing duties and anti-dumping penalty imposed on softwood lumber by the US. The recent strength of the Canadian dollar has aggravated the situation. Activities have also been suspended at the Kirkland Lake, Ontario, sawmill since November 2002 for the same reasons. During meetings held at each of the three mills, employees and union representatives were informed of the Company's decision and discussed the situation with management. The Bйarn, Cochrane and Canal Flats mills combined produce some 30% of Tembec's total SPF lumber output, and their temporary shutdown will affect over 490 direct jobs. Management believes that this curtailment will not negatively affect the Company's financial performance. Tembec's Forest Products Group, which has sales in the order of $1.2 billion, is a leading supplier in three major sectors: softwood lumber (SPF) and OSB panels, specialty wood products and engineered wood products. Tembec is an integrated Canadian forest products company principally involved in the production of wood products, market pulp and papers. The Company has sales of approximately $4 billion with over 55 manufacturing sites in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as in France, the United States and Chile. Tembec's Common Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TBC. Additional information on Tembec is available on its web site, at www.tembec.com.