Canfor plans $40 million sawmill upgrade in Kootenays—Radium to re-open with new planer

Logs being loaded onto a semi-truck

Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) plans to spend $40 million to upgrade sawmills in the Kootenay region.

The bulk of the investment—$38.5 million—will be made in a new planer plant at its Radium Hot Springs sawmill. Canfor also plans to install a new biomass energy system and modify the existing mill.

The company will also spend more than $1 million to upgrade its drying capacity at its Canal Flats sawmill.

Work on the new planer mill is scheduled to start next month, with operation anticipated in the fourth quarter of this year.

The investment is the first round in Canfor’s planned multi-year capital investment program, which is intended to increase at Canfor's Southern Interior mills.

“These investments are critical to support the restart of our Radium division, which was indefinitely closed in May 2009,” said Canfor CEO Don Kayne. “The fibre in the Kootenay region is amongst the best in the world, and these investments will secure our ability to make top-quality products here to supply global markets.”