2 minute read
Made in USA trends
from HBSD-0621
by ensembleiq
Canfor builds in Louisiana
Canfor Corporation announced it will invest approximately $160 million USD to build a new, state-ofthe-art sawmill near DeRidder, Louisiana.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based lumber and forest products producer said it will be receiving significant state and local incentives in support of the project.
The facility will have an annual production capacity of 250 million board feet on a two-shift basis and will directly employ about 130 people plus create significant additional indirect jobs.
The Louisiana facility will have a manufacturing capacity and flexibility to produce a wide variety of high-value wood products. Startup at the mill is expected to commence late in the third quarter of 2022. The investment in
Louisiana is in addition to the approximately $300 million of 2021 capital spending, including about $200 million for the solid wood and pulp operations in Western Canada and $100 million for the solid wood operations in the U.S. South.
“We are excited to grow our operating footprint with the greenfield project in Louisiana, which will increase our production capacity and allow us to meet the growing demands of our customers,” said Don Kayne, president and CEO of Canfor. “We also continue to invest significant capital in our British Columbia and U.S. South facilities to ensure we sustain our top quartile operations and strategically grow our global operating platform,”
“Agribusiness remains one of our key industries for growing Louisiana’s economy, and our state offers unique advantages that attracted Canfor here,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, “This major new manufacturing project can resonate across the region’s economy in a variety of ways. We welcome plans for this foreign direct investment in Louisiana by this industry leader, and we look forward to the good jobs this project is expected to create in Beauregard Parish for the region’s skilled workforce.”
Given the decision to build a new facility in Louisiana, Canfor said it will no longer move forward with plans for a greenfield project in Washington, Ga., previously announced in 2018.
The Canfor sawmill will bring annual production capacity of 250 million board feet on a two-shift basis.
An industry group called the Coalition for a Prosperous America applauded the Senate passage of the Make PPE in America Act (S. 1306).
With bipartisan support — it was introduced by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) — the bill is designed to strengthen efforts to onshore production of personal protective equipment in the United States. PPE emerged as a breakout category for hardware stores and home centers during the pandemic. The bill was included as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (S. 1260) that passed the Senate by a vote of 68 to 32. “I have long raised the alarm that our overreliance on foreign manufacturers for masks, gloves and medical devices is a serious national security concern,” said Peters. However, the CPA wasn’t calling the Senate’s approval as a complete victory. The CPA opposed the simultaneous passage of bill to remove all tariffs on foreign-made PPE.
