|
» Forum Index » Shutdowns,layoffs hit largest West Coast forest company
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
dadpad
Posts: 9359
Location: up a creek in a barbed wire canoe w/o a paddle
|
Western Forest Products closes most of its logging operations as demand drops.
Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008
he West Coast's largest forest company, Western Forest Products, announced Tuesday it is shutting down most of its logging operations and laying off more than 800 loggers and contractors as demand for wood products continues to tumble world-wide.
Logging is to shut down at the end of next week so the forest company can bring its log inventories in line with its lumber orders, Western's chief operating officer Duncan Kerr said Tuesday.
The reason is not just the U.S. housing collapse any more, Kerr said. Lumber that once fed U.S. homebuilders is now being diverted to other markets around the world, leading to a global erosion in demand.
"Even if you drop your price, you are still not going to sell any more wood," he said.
Only last week, Western announced it was shutting down its Ladysmith sawmill due to falling demand for commodity lumber.
Most of the new layoffs are to hit operations on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Logging will continue only in operations that are harvesting mostly high-valued species, like cedar, where demand remains strong.
Kerr said the curtailments are entirely market-related. Western can't sell enough lumber to justify its logging harvest.
"We have maintained sufficient logging to cover the lumber orders we have at this time."
Western is laying off 220 of its own logging employees, as well as many of its logging contractors. The exact number of people affected was not clear Tuesday, but Dave Lewis, executive director of the Truck Loggers Association, said a quick tally put the number at more than 800.
Lewis termed the layoffs devastating for families and coastal communities. Logging contractors are just in the process of returning to work after a winter of abnormally heavy snowfall. A shut-down now, when they are desperate for revenue, is likely to push some of them out of business, he said.
"This is bad," Lewis said. "When a company like WFP, which controls 43 per cent of coastal Crown forests, runs into trouble and is forced to curtail operations to this degree, the number of people who are affected is astounding.
"This will have an impact on the entire Vancouver Island economy."
The layoffs are not permanent, Kerr said. Western wants to return to the woods during June to rebuild log inventories before fire season shuts the wood down again in August.
Lewis said the on-and-off logging will push contractors, who must finance their equipment and carry high overhead costs, into dire financial straits. They will not have enough time to recoup their losses from this shutdown before the woods are closed for fire season.
"But this is no time for the contracting community to be taking shots at Western. Obviously they are in trouble and it's up to us and the government to support them wherever possible."
He said loggers are concerned that Victoria could make the situation worse by considering a plan to take timber back from Western in the Queen Charlotte Islands without compensating the company under a seldom-used clause in the company's forest licences.
That would accelerate the Western's plight and harm the contractors who rely on it, Lewis said. "No one wants to see Western go under. We need to see the government demonstrate support.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=1d0dc9b6-3c22-41d5-9e48-911c8fb29257
|
|
|
|
|
dadpad
Posts: 9359
Location: up a creek in a barbed wire canoe w/o a paddle
|
It's been well documented - the forestry industry in British Columbia has been hammered over the last 12 months from all sides. Mill closures, job layoffs and of course the mountain pine beetle has knocked the industry for a six. Selling lumber from infested forests into a market already hit hard by reduced demand because of the collapse of the U.S. housing market has been tough.
As we know, the mountain pine beetle has been the real killer though. According to new government statistics, about half of the marketable forest estate in BC (estimated to climb to a staggering 76% by 2015) has been ravaged by a nearly decade-long beetle infestation. The outbreak of mountain pine beetles has affected trees over an area of 13.5 million hectares. As of last month, the insects had infested and killed about 710 million cubic metres of timber - up from 582 million cubic metres at the same time last year, according to a recent news release.
To add to the industry's woes, a just released report (see story below) says that the beetle is now transforming BC's forests into a major source of greenhouse gases. Federal scientists say that by the time this unprecedented infestation ends, an extra billion tonnes of carbon dioxide will have been released into the atmosphere. Big - you better believe it. The reports lead author says this is five times the annual emissions from all the cars, trucks, trains and planes in Canada.
After "the beetle has eaten itself out of house and home" in BC the authors have suggested that given favourable conditions in future, such as the mild winters now being experienced, the beetle could well spread across Canada's vast northern boreal forest, one of the most important stores of carbon on the planet.
|
|
|
|
|
alex240101
Posts: 3233
Location: home of lions, tigers and wings.
|
Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. Emerald ash borer probably arrived in the United States on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. Emerald ash borer is also established in Windsor, Ontario, was found in Ohio in 2003, northern Indiana in 2004, northern Illinois and Maryland in 2006, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia in 2007. Since its discovery, EAB has:
Killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. Most of the devastation is in southeastern Michigan.
Caused regulatory agencies and the USDA to enforce quarantines (Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) and fines to prevent potentially infested ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood from moving out of areas where EAB occurs.
Cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries tens of millions of dollars.
|
|
|
|
|
Chumly
Posts: 7712
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
|
BC created these doomed monocultures!
BC is going to pay a heavy price for practices that promote uniformity over diversity.
I think monocultures (tracts of trees of a similar species and age) are behind a lot of the problems.
The stupidity of trying to "save" forests from fire has created a situation where we have many more pine trees than before.
You reap what you sow!
http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/10/05/SowingDevastation/
|
|
|
|
|
Chumly
Posts: 7712
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
|
|
|
|
dadpad
Posts: 9359
Location: up a creek in a barbed wire canoe w/o a paddle
|
| Chumly wrote: |
BC created these doomed monocultures!
BC is going to pay a heavy price for practices that promote uniformity over diversity.
I think monocultures (tracts of trees of a similar species and age) are behind a lot of the problems.
The stupidity of trying to "save" forests from fire has created a situation where we have many more pine trees than before.
You reap what you sow!
http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/10/05/SowingDevastation/ |
Thanks for that link Chumly. we have a situation in tasmania that is mimicking the monoculture aspects of BC, eucalypts of course so I'm not sure how much inference can be drawn. It deserves some thought though.
|
|
|
|
|
Chumly
Posts: 7712
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
|
People are irrational! They are most often indifferent to the implications of their actions, as long as it does not appear to negatively affect them in the short term.
|
|
|
|
|
dadpad
Posts: 9359
Location: up a creek in a barbed wire canoe w/o a paddle
|
| Chumly wrote: |
| People are irrational! They are most often indifferent to the implications of their actions, as long as it does not appear to negatively affect them in the short term. |
Correct. Something I have yet to convince the industry of is the truly long term nature of native forestry. By long term i mean 2 or 3 rotations @ 60 - 80 years each rotation.
I find that most people cannot see or plan for more than the length of their working life.
|
|
|
|
|
Chumly
Posts: 7712
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
|
I seriously doubt things will improve unless / until man’s lifespan is dramatically extended, in concert with a drastic reduction in population.
Under those circumstances man's net eco-impact would be lessened, and we would live long enough to bear the burden of the eco-problems we wrought.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 2:10 am 
