Taylor pulp mill restart not expected until 2023: Canfor

TAYLOR, B.C. — Canfor says it doesn’t expect to consider restarting its Taylor pulp mill until next spring.

Michelle Ward, a spokesperson for Canfor, says, based on ongoing discussions with the company’s transportation partners, the supply chain backlog is not expected to significantly improve before the end of the year.

She adds that winter is generally a more challenging time for rail transportation.

“We have therefore been preparing to winterize the facility in anticipation that it will likely be next spring before we could consider restarting Taylor Pulp,” she said in an email.

This follows Canfor’s statement on Monday that production capacity at most solid wood facilities across the province will be reduced for two weeks, starting September 26th.

The curtailment will be followed by the resumption of reduced operating schedules until the end of 2022.

“We are temporarily curtailing production in B.C. due to reduced market demand,” said Don Kayne, the president and CEO of Canfor.

“We will leverage our global operating platform to prioritize the requirements of our customers.”

Canfor expects the curtailment to lead to a reduction of approximately 200 million board feet of production capacity.

Employees will have the opportunity to work during the downtime to complete maintenance projects and other site activities to “limit the impact,” said a release.

In August, in its second-quarter results for 2022, Canfor said the Taylor Pulp Mill curtailment will continue until “more normal” transportation levels resume.

The initial Taylor mill curtailment was announced in February 2022, followed by a six-week extension in March.

In May, the company stated that the curtailment would most likely stay in place until the fall. At this time, Ward had confirmed that around 80 employees had been affected, saying the company “sincerely regrets its impact” on the residents, their families, and the community.

“A small crew of about 20 people will be maintained at the mill to facilitate shipments as we receive rail cars,” Ward told Energeticcity.ca in May.

The company cited transportation issues when initially announcing the curtailment, saying the shortages resulted in “continued high finished product inventories” at the pulp mill.

According to the second-quarter results, the curtailment at Taylor Pulp Mill has resulted in reduced production by about 60,000 tonnes.