CARROT RIVER, Sask. – A planned upgrade to a northern Saskatchewan sawmill is expected to create at least 50 new full-time jobs. Edgewood Forest Products announced Thursday it is investing $25 million to upgrade the Carrot River sawmill.
The capital investment will see the existing primary breakdown sawline with a new high recovery sawline. Officials with Edgewood say the upgrade will allow the plant to process a greater percentage of logs with more lumber being produced from each log.
“With this upgrade and the processing tax incentives recently announced by the Government of Saskatchewan, Edgewood will have some of the lowest log processing costs in the industry,” said Ron Dunn, chief operating officer of C&C Resources Inc. which owns Edgewood.
“Together with a continual focus on delivered log cost reduction, the Carrot River sawmill will be a long term manufacturer of high quality lumber in Saskatchewan.”
Edgewood officials say the upgrade, which is expected to be operational by January 2016, will increase full-time employment in the region from 100 to over 150 positions.
They also added the capacity of the operation will increase to 140-million board feet per year from the current yearly level of 100-million board feet. A board foot is the volume of a one-foot length of a board, one foot wide and one inch thick.
READ MORE: Rebirth of saw mill in Big River, Saskatchewan
Along with the upgrade announcement, Edgewood also said a tentative deal is in place to sell its plywood plant in Hudson Bay, which has been idle since 2007.
Edgewood officials say the letter of intent to a group that is well-positioned in the plywood industry could see the mill restarted as early as November, creating 25 to 35 jobs.
Comments