Columbia Forest Products Rutherglen mill faces indefinite idling

Columbia Forest Products
News Release

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Citing weakness in projected orders and low log availability, officials at Columbia Forest Products this week announced the indefinite idling of the company’s Rutherglen, Ontario production facility and the associated layoff of approximately 70 employees, commencing in the mid to late April, 2010 time-frame. The Rutherglen mill converts birch logs into decorative face veneers which are used in making hardwood plywood.

The company reported that the recession and competition from imported Chinese birch wood products has kept demand for domestic birch veneer down at historic low levels.

Columbia added that challenges in acquiring the birch logs themselves remains a chronic problem for the Ontario based plant. Because of the economic slowdown, the logging industry as a whole has suffered crippling layoffs. Fewer loggers in the woods translate into weak availability of the raw materials, and in turn, the inability to cost-effectively operate a processing mill like the one in Rutherglen.

The facility will be kept at a production-ready status, making it available for an efficient start-up at the time the overall business climate improves. The company will aggressively facilitate the placement of the Rutherglen work force in the interim by working closely with the appropriate government agencies.

About Columbia Forest Products

Founded in 1957, Columbia Forest Products is North America’s largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer, a leader in sustainable forestry, and innovator of formaldehyde-free PureBond® technology.

Columbia’s decorative interior veneers and panels are used in cabinetry, furniture, architectural millwork and commercial fixtures. Employee-owned and based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Columbia employs more than 2,000 and operates facilities throughout the United States and Canada, and an operational network which spans the globe.

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