Forestry

To Henry Wetelainen, value-added forestry begins in the bush at the harvesting site. The president of the Ontario Métis and Aboriginal Association Development Corp.

Like a bottle of spirits stashed away for a special occasion, so is Iroquois Falls’ Ed Pedskalny’s plan for a distillery. On the outside, it seems a simple plan.

Tembec has completed its deal to purchase the Weyerhaeuser sawmill in Chapleau for $26 million (Cdn), including certain elements of working capital.

A new Temagami birch mill should not be affected by a provincially imposed area-logging ban that has been in place since last winter.

In a risky move to create greater market share, Peter Moore, president of The Wilderness Group in Wawa, took over competitor Broland Enterprise in 2000 - a decision that led the company’s revenues to increase 200 per cent between 2000 and 2003.

So-called “power-retailers” such as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and Home Hardware are proving to be major drivers in the forest-products industry worldwide, and are expected to continue to be a powerful driver for at least the coming decade.

When it came to redeveloping Finland’s forestry industry, it required bringing together all the players to work collaboratively.

Atikokan’s dormant particleboard plant reopened June 10. The plant is now owned by Fibratech Manufacturing Inc. of Vancouver. Fibratech owner Dan Warren says all of the 140 former Proboard employees returned to work at the plant.

The search continues for a private partner for a First Nation-run $80-million plywood veneer mill proposed for Lake Huron’s North Shore.

Canadian forest industry giants with large operations in Northern Ontario are prepared to fight duties on exported softwood lumber to the bitter end, in spite of a recent U.S.