After more than three months of downtime, operations are set to resume at two lumber mills in the BC Interior.
Tolko Industries has confirmed that work will restart at the Soda Creek and Armstrong mills on Monday, March 6.
“The sawmill at each division will be running two shifts while the planer at each location will run a single shift for the first week to build up inventory,” said Chris Downey, communications advisor with Tolko Industries.
In late December the Vernon-based forestry company said closures at both mills would be extended through January.
Troy Connolly, vice president of solid wood, said the high log costs and weak lumber markets were impacting operations.
“We do not make these decisions lightly,” says Troy Connolly, vice president of solid wood, in late January.
“We have an extremely committed workforce at these operations whose families and communities rely on Tolko. We will continue to support our employees during this challenging time.”
The curtailment, which impacted about 350 employees, was extended again through February. It was estimated it would also reduce production by about 35 million board feet of stud lumber.
Fortunately, both mills are expected to be back to full production within the next two weeks.
