Veneer mill thrives amid market uncertainty.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionFORESTRY

The log yard is filled with two months' worth of inventory and activity is humming at Columbia Forest Products' veneer plant, east of North Bay.

After being mothballed for five years, operations at the hardwood veneer mill in Rutherglen resumed April 18 running one shift of 52 employees.

Without delving into production numbers, mill manager Peter Loy said since the reopening, things have gone well as the operation continues to its ramp-up toward full production.

Heading into 2016, Northern American veneer demand wasn't exactly bursting at the seams, but it had improved sufficiently enough for Columbia to make the decision to restart the 100,000-square-foot mill it had shuttered in 2010.

Loy said it's difficult to forecast if the veneer markets will show signs of improvement over a sustained stretch.

"Nobody can look forward any more than a few months and say, 'it's going to be a banner time' or 'no, we'd better think about slowing down.'

"Historically, there's a cycle to appetites through the year and typically it slacks off toward the end of the year and picks up early in the new year. It has to do with inventories and costing over the year-end."

The U.S. remains the No. 1 global importer of hardwood veneer.

"One of our largest competitors for our end product, being plywood, is China," said Loy. "And they've eaten up a whole lot of market share in North America with their imports. As far as veneer goes, they'll always be imports for sliced and specialty woods--things like that--but it's not a big bite of our lunch."

The mill's primary product is four-by-eight sheets of veneer, pulled off the log and clipped at the four-foot...

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