Mill inventory piles as demand drops.

• Author: Louiseize, Kelly
• Position: NEWS

One of Sioux Lookout's largest employers, McKenzie Forest Products, is examining options for its wood chip operation.

Chips used to be sent to Thunder Bay's Bowater Kraft plant before the "A" mill shut down in April and the Abitibi Consolidated mill in Fort Frances. Now McKenzie has to find a new home for their piled-high inventory.

Management has told employees to stop making chips. Buchanan Forest Products gave unions five days legal notice of a temporary shutdown, which could affect more than 400 union employees. It is a precautionary measure, in case the company cannot come up with enough orders to keep the plant operating, John McLaren, woodlands manager at McKenzie says.

Worst case scenario would mean a shutdown until the chip pile diminishes, which could take weeks.

Managers at the mill say they have not seen the mound of...