Ignace may regain its moniker as a forestry town with AbitibiBowater planning to reopen a shuttered sawmill.
AbitibiBowater is investing $32 million to upgrade the northwestern Ontario mill with plans to resume operations by late 2013 or early 2014.
The Montreal forestry giant made the announcement in Thunder Bay, Aug. 29.
The company will add a new energy system and kilns to dry lumber, along with a planer and packaging system to make finished limber that's ready for market.
The mill closed in late 2006, affecting 49 staff and contractor positions.
At the time, poor market conditions and insufficient quote allocations for sawmill stemming from the Canada-U.S. Softwood agreement were blamed for the indefinite shutdown.
AbitibiBowater said the investment is subject to reach an “acceptable labor agreement” with the United Steelworkers union and finalizing an agreement on municipal matters with the Township of Ignace.
In a statement, company president Richard Garneau said “the project announced today (Aug. 29) will result in a sawmill of good scale by eastern Canadian standards and will allow the Company to more efficiently use the wood supply presently available to us.”
Garneau said once the sawmill is operating, it will supply both the Canadian and the U.S. market.
The company said the Ignace sawmill will also contribute to improving the cost of fibre for their pulp and paper mills in Thunder Bay and Fort Frances.
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