Lumber, pulp and paper firm AbitibiBowater Inc. (TSX:ABH) plans to upgrade its sawmill in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The facility produces 10-foot-long stud boards for construction.
THUNDER BAY, Ont.
AbitibiBowater Inc.’s (TSX:ABH) future in Thunder Bay is looking brighter.
The lumber, pulp and paper company said it is investing $8 million in upgrades at the Thunder Bay sawmill to improve capacity.
Luke Drapeau, general manager of wood products for Northwestern Ontario, says they are moving from making 265 million to 300 million board feet of stud dimension lumber annually.
He attributed the increase to the wood supply process, which gives the Thunder Bay sawmill 220,000 cubic metres of fibre.
The upgrades include adding another dry kiln and debarker, and a new deplaner.
The upgrades started in April and are expected to take two years to complete.
This will create about 50 jobs at the plant, 100 direct jobs in the woodlands operations and 150 indirect jobs in the community, the company said.
“The key point is this is a very competitive plant, from safety standards to conversion costs,” Drapeau said. “The company’s focus is to expand top metrics — larger volume equals lower conversion costs.
“Bigger really is better when it comes to sawmill output.”
AbitibiBowater’s Thunder Bay sawmill plant has been operating since 2003. It produces 10-foot long stud boards for construction in three dimensions, two-by-three, two-by-four and two-by-six, with a small amount of one-by-three boards.
Meanwhile, AbitibiBowater’s Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill is about to start shipping a new product that could be an alternative to petroleum in plastics.
The plant has installed a precipitator to collect and manufacture lignin, a byproduct of the pulping process.
Canadian Press
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