Conifex sawmill workers get two breaks amid higher log costs, duties

FORT ST. JAMES, BC — A leaner holiday season lies ahead for those who work at the Conifex Timber Inc. sawmill in Fort St. James.

The company has announced a two-week curtailment beginning Nov. 12 and continuing until November 26 at the mill about 160 kilometres northwest of Prince George.

A second two-week curtailment is also planned around the Christmas period.

Conifex says it requires a 15% cut in lumber production for the quarter.

Chief executive officer Ken Shields says the curtailments are due to falling lumber prices, stiff export duties, increasing log costs and a drop in log quality as commercially viable mountain pine beetle timber runs out.

Shields says the actions are an attempt to mitigate the impacts on employees as much as possible for 2018 and into next year.