Tembec Suspends Operations at Three Quebec Sawmills

Tembec, Montreal, Que., Canada, reports that it will suspend operations at its three sawmills due to the high cost of wood supply in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, which makes its sawmills uncompetitive given the persistent weak market prices for lumber in North America. The company noted in a release yesterday that "this represents 360 direct jobs at Tembec that are being affected by the new provincial forestry regime implemented in April 2013."

James Lopez , president and CEO, said that "Tembec has already expressed its concerns, on many occasions, to the Québec Government regarding wood costs at its sawmills in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Unfortunately, these costs have increased more than 20%. We hope that the premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard, will have the determination to act quickly, as he promised during his swearing-in speech of his Cabinet on April 23, 2014."

Tembec is still trying to obtain from the Québec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife, and Parks an additional annual volume of some 300,000 cubic meters of softwood to ensure the long-term operations of its three Abitibi-Témiscamingue sawmills.

As of May 25, Tembec's La Sarre, Senneterre, and Béarn sawmills will suspend operations for a period of two weeks, removing approximately 12 million board ft. of production. Further downtime may be required if conditions do not improve.

Tembec is a producer of forest products, including lumber, pulp, paper, and specialty cellulose. Its principal operations are in Canada and France. With annual sales of approximately $1.5 billion , Tembec has 3,400 employees, of which 1,700 work in Québec.