' | West Fraser Terrace mill in the black SKEENA SAWMILLS is now turning a modest pro- fit - a major reversal from 1998 when West Fraser’s Terrace and Prince Rupert operations lost a combined $20 million. The company is now essentially happy with the Terrace operation’s perfor- mance, said West Fraser woodlands vice-president Wayne Clogg. “We think in Terrace here we've found a formu- la that works right now,” he told a Chamber of Commerce luncheon audi- ence Thursday. “Jt deals with the market changes and the costs of logs.” The company even gave the Terrace sawmill employees an award for being the West Fraser operation with most im- proved performance. The key difference has been the mill’s July 1998 reduction from two-shift operation down to just one. “It allowed us to dry all the wood we produce in Terrace,” Clogg said, add- ing they now pets a much better price for the lumber. Previously it was drying only a fraction of produc- tion and was selling most of its wood as undried, or green, hemlock lumber on the open market. That tactic worked fine cwvenping salt so long as there was a market for green hemlock, The lumber was shipped via the Panama Canal to eastern U.S. buyers, But that market dried up overnight around 1995 when the buyers disco- vered eastern Canadian spruce, which wasn’t as heavy as green hemlock. “This is a fundamental change,” Clogg said. “These people aren’t going to turn around and start buying green hemlock again. That market, we be- lieve, is gone.” He added West Fraser has shut down its New York marketing office and laid off all the staff there. For the last five years green hemlock has fetched much lower prices, cutting deeply into the Terrace mill’s revenue. At the same time, the requirements of the Forest Practices Code drove West Fraser's cost of log- ging in this region way up, Clogg said. “The code has a bigger impact in the northwest than in any of our other operations,” Clogg said, Those two factors con- tributed to the heavy losses that peaked in 1998. By cutting the Terrace sawmill down to one shift that year, West Fraser was | Business Review The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 14, 2000 - A15 S as SKEENA SAWMILLS Canadian Community Newspapers Association newspapers deliver the story Hest Fras is now turning a profit thanks to its strategy of reducing its number of shifts and increasing the amount of kiln-driad lumber it produces. That's sawmill superintendent Bill Munro with lumber ready for delivery. able to limil logging to the most cost-effective areas. That helped reduce the cost of each log brought here by about 30 per cent * from the peak in 1998. Lower costs, coupled with increased revenue from selling dried hemlock has made Terrace profit- able, he said. Mill layoffs were stalled here until mid-1999 through a federal work- sharing program. Loggers were kept working through a Job Pro- tection Commission-bro- kered plan, which has been renewed for 2000. It allows them to oper- ate where West Fraser no longer intended to and sell the logs independently. A portion of the logs can be exported overseas. A five-year deal to cus- tom chip wood for Skeena Cellulose helped replace some of the mill jobs lost in the 1999 layoffs, Clogg also responded to criticism that the Terrace mill is old and antiquated. While the company has no plans to reinvest heavi- ly in it right now, he said, it is working well. Some of the equipment in the mill is state-of-the- art, he added. “It’s a good mill. It’s a competitive mill. And it’s well suited to where we are right now,” Clogs said. “It’s not our best opera- tion, but if we weren’t committed we would have cut our losses and run a long time ago.” Life Skills Workshop Series Available to Everyone July 2000 Series Learn to Control Your Life Better & Make More Effective *Coping with Change *Budgeting *Building Self Esteem *Crealing Healthy Emations *Stress Management * Anger Management *Family Violence No Fee is Charged Sponsored by Human Resource Development Canada To Register call Northwest Training Ltd. 201-4622 Greig Avenue 638-8108 Space is Limited call now for One er Mare Workshops GRAND PRIZE DRAW KINSMEN CLUB OF TERRACE 10TH ANNUAL RIVERBOAT RAFFLE . Supplied By: Ken’s Marine 20’ HARBERCRAFT ALUMINUM RIVER BOAT 175 HP Mercury Spon, Jet Inboard Motor, Galvanized Trailer with 2 Life Jackets & Paddles In the Safeway parking lot _ 2pm, Sunday, June 18, 2000 ‘Chamber of commerce names new executive Dan Anderson, Diane Critchley, Bert Tickets Available At: follows tradition would rise te the JUSTIN RIGSBY is the new presi- , . . ; ; . dent of the Terrace and District presidency next year. Husband, Sheila Love, Ron Story Te ote Misty River Tackle Tennace Rinsmen Members fist jles Chamber of Commerce. Cathy Frenette is second vice- and Peter Weeber. oma ° o{Bargain Shop} itsumkalum Tempo __ k ts S ohaw. Rigsby, the ‘controller for Alm- president. ae The newly elected members will Janitor 5 Warehouse Tickets 20.00 Wood Contracting, replaces out- ~~. Wil:Sigurdson is treasurer. be sworn in on June 23 at an infor- ] 8C lottery licansa No. 827-519 Only 2500 Tickets Printed oi a eel Ot Coes CEA 2 er de eel mal bérémony rere . _— Business Excellence Awards will this year be presented at a gala evening on Oct. 28, going’ president Doug Barrett "Pireelors elected to sérveva two- Also elected to the executive year term are: Betty Barton, Doug June 8 was first vice-president Johnson, Terri McPhee and Diana Wood. They join existing directors Henry Stiksma, who if the chamber ata On Graham Ave. ‘, ° tikgem EU! he NEM fe" Original Watercolour Ah WS GreetingCards i by local artist _ 7’ Pe reer 15 hp. HONDA A Stroke 949" 1993 YAMAHA - WAVEBLASTER : = $ZAggr| | WHITE WATER : : 21’ JET BOAT "60 Ford ‘14995 1996 SUZUKI KING QUAD 1999" 2... 3499" 1996 BAYLINER | TROPH | Sn" S4gggge | MERCURY 30 JET | wh con es os “2995” | MERCURY 135 hp. 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