Norbord Inc. plans to indefinitely curtail production at its oriented strand board (OSB) mill in 100 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada, starting in August 2019. Approximately 160 employees will be impacted by this curtailment, as the company says in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
The Cariboo region in which Norbord's 100 Mile House mill is located has been under mounting wood supply pressure for the past decade as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. This challenge has been more recently exacerbated by the significant wildfires that the province of British Columbia experienced in the summers of both 2017 and 2018. The resulting wood supply shortage and high wood prices do not support the economic operation of the mill at this time.
The 100 Mile House mill has a stated annual production capacity of 440 million square feet (3/8-inch basis).
Norbord Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of wood-based panels and the world's largest producer of oriented strand board (OSB).
