VANCOUVER, B.C., Nov. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conifex Timber Inc. (TSX: CFF) (“Conifex”) announced today that it is temporarily curtailing sawmill operations at its Fort St. James, British Columbia sawmill for a two-week period commencing Monday, November 12, 2018, due primarily to log costs and current lumber market conditions. An additional two-week curtailment is planned around the Christmas period, resulting in a total reduction of approximately 15% of Conifex’s BC lumber production for the quarter.
“We have made the difficult decision to temporarily curtail our Fort St. James sawmill in Q4 due to the combined impact of increasing log costs, deteriorating log quality as the availability of commercially viable mountain pine beetle timber reaches an end, falling lumber prices, and punitive lumber export duty impositions,” said Ken Shields, Chair and CEO. “We are working on a priority basis to position Fort St. James for long term sustainable production in the lower lumber price, higher log cost environment we envisage for the balance of 2018 and 2019 and will be seeking to mitigate the impacts on our employees as much as possible.”
For further information, please contact:
| Media Contact: Sandy Ferguson VP Corporate Affairs and Business Development (778) 385-2750, Sandy.ferguson@conifex.com | Investor Contact: Yuri Lewis Chief Financial Officer (778)-331-8687 yuri.lewis@conifex.com |
About Conifex Timber Inc.
Conifex and its subsidiaries' primary business currently includes timber harvesting, reforestation, forest management, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value added lumber finishing and distribution. Conifex's lumber products are sold in the United States, Chinese, Canadian and Japanese markets. Conifex has expanded its operations to include bioenergy production following the commencement of commercial operations of its power generation facility at Mackenzie, BC.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release may constitute “forward-looking statements”, including statements about Conifex’s lumber production. Forward-looking statements are statements that address or discuss activities, events or developments that Conifex expects or anticipates may occur in the future. When used in this news release, words such as “estimates”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “projects”, “will”, “believes”, “intends” “should”, “could”, “may” and other similar terminology are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations and beliefs of Conifex's management. Because forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, actual results, performance or achievements of Conifex and its industry may be materially different from those implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant uncertainties, should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including lumber price volatility and availability and cost of log supply and other risks described in Conifex's 2017 AIF, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements and Conifex undertakes no obligation to publicly revise them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.