Another mill closure in the BC Interior, this time West Fraser’s Chasm lumber mill, which will leave 176 people out of a job.

In addition, West Fraser is also reducing a shift at their 100 Mile House lumber mill, which will affect another 34 people, with both moves set to take effect sometime in the third quarter of this year.

West Fraser anticipates the move will premanently reduce lumber production by about 314 million board feet.

“We sincerely regret the impact this decision will have on our employees, their families and the affected communities. We will be making efforts to mitigate the effects of this business decision, including opportunities for affected employees to transition to other company locations,” said Ray Ferris, President and Chief Operating Officer, in a release.

As with other recent mill closures, the company is blaming timber supply constraints due to the Moutain Pine Beetle infestation, record wildfire seasons, a decline in lumber market prices, and higher log costs.

“As a result of reduced harvesting levels set by the Chief Forester of B.C., there is insufficient timber supply to support the current lumber production capacity of the lumber mills in these locations,” Ferris added. “Today’s decision better aligns West Fraser’s production in the region with current timber supply.”

The moves are in addition to curtailments in 2018 and 2019, where West Fraser implemented temporary and permanent capacity curtailments of approximately 125 million and 614 million board feet respectively.

This recent closure comes in the wake of other mill closures announced in Vavenby and Quesnel, an indefinite mill closure in 100 Mile House, and curtailments at mills in Merritt, Kelowna and other locations.