BY DAN HILDEBRAN
West Fraser said it will indefinitely curtail its sawmill east of Lake Butler by the end of September, blaming high costs and a soft lumber market.
Earlier this year, the British Columbia-based timber company shuttered its plant in Perry and later closed a sawmill in Maxville.
A worker at the Lake Butler sawmill said West Fraser would continue to pay its Union County workers for 60 days to comply with Florida’s Warn law, which requires large employers to notify workers and government officials of business closings.
The Lake Butler facility employed 130 workers, while the Perry location employed 126, and the Maxville facility had 79.
The company’s sawmill in the west Duval County community of Whitehouse remains open, and one employee said West Fraser is seeking to place Lake Butler employees at the mill located off Interstate 10.
In its second-quarter earnings announcement, the company said it was experiencing demand softness in North America, particularly in Southern Yellow Pine, which has a greater relative exposure to repair and remodeling applications.
“We continue to realize the financial benefits from the recent closures of some of our higher-cost lumber mills,” the company said in a news release, “and will continue to focus on optimizing our portfolio of assets to lower costs and create a more resilient organization.”
