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Vancouver Island sawmill to restart after two-year shutdown |
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 |
 Western Forest Products (TSX:WEF) plans to restart the Ladysmith sawmill this September.
The mill had been closed indefinitely since April 26, 2008, due to poor market conditions. Once restarted, the mill will employ approximately 29 workers operating on a one-shift basis.
Western Forest also announced it had ratified a new labour agreement with the hourly employees at the Ladysmith sawmill. Key provisions of the agreement include a four-year term expiring December 31, 2014 with 2% wage increases in the third and fourth year of the agreement. The last agreement with the union expired on June 15, 2009.
The company also announced a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers Union (USW), which covers the vast majority of Western’s unionized hourly workforce. Details will be released during the ratification process. The company’s last contract with the USW expired on June 15, 2010.
Western Forest Products reported a net profit in its first quarter ending March 31, 2010 of $7.3 million, up from a net loss of $25.5 million in the same period in 2009. The return to profitability was supported by an operating profit of $600,000 and $10.6 million from the proceeds related to the creation of a joint venture with Brookfield Properties Ltd., income from asset sales and a reimbursement from the province relating to stumpage re-assessments.
First quarter sales were down 9.3% to $138.3 million from $152.6 million.
Western’s share price range during the past week: between $0.27 and $0.345; 52-week high: $0.59; 52-week low: $0.16.
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