Tolko back in business

J.P. SQUIRE The Daily Courier  2011-07-19  
Tolko Industries returned to full production Monday, thanks to construction in sunny, warm Eastern Canada.  "We‘re back at full operation at the Lumby and Armstrong facilities as well as the fourth shift at our facility in Kamloops, Heffley Creek," said Larry Broadfoot, general manager of lumber and plywood sales.  Due to continuing poor market conditions, the company temporarily curtailed panel production during the weeks of July 4 and 11, affecting 260 employees and reducing Tolko‘s plywood production by about 10 million square feet.  When the layoffs were announced at White Valley division‘s veneer operation in Lumby, Armstrong‘s plywood operation and the fourth plywood shift in Heffley Creek, Broadfoot indicated markets would be reviewed at the end of the scheduled downtime to determine if extensions were required.  "Unfortunately, in this market, that is an ongoing issue," he said Monday. "There has been sufficient strengthening, mainly in Eastern Canada.  "Unlike the Okanagan, they‘ve had much better weather. So we‘ve seen the markets in Eastern Canada pick up a bit better so that‘s helped us a lot. "I‘m optimistic that we should be good for the near term. Unfortunately, the world economy has more to do with it than what I can do sitting in this office. We‘re definitely watching it and we‘re optimistic." Since Canada is the main market for Tolko‘s plywood products, "this sector has been particularly impacted by the unusually cold, wet spring, and the related low construction activity," Broadfoot said earlier.Tolko Industries Ltd., a private, Canadian-owned forest products company based in Vernon, has approximately 3,200 employees. It is a major producer and marketer of lumber, veneer, plywood, oriented strand board (OSB) and kraft papers with manufacturing operations across Western Canada.