Ainsworth Announces Two New OSB Facilities in Prince George and Quesnel.VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. ("Ainsworth") (TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension :ANS (ANS Communications, Inc, Purchase, NY) An ISP, Internet backbone and provider of private data network services, founded in 1990 as Advanced Network & Services, Inc., by IBM, MCI and Merit (consortium of Michigan universities). ), one of the Ainsworth Group of Companies, announced today its intention to construct two state-of-the-art oriented strand board Oriented strand board, or OSB, or waferboard, or Sterling board (UK), is an engineered wood product formed by layering strands (flakes) of wood in specific orientations. (OSB OSB abbr. Order of Saint Benedict ) mills in Prince George and Quesnel, British Columbia Quesnel is a city in the Cariboo District of British Columbia, Canada. Located nearly evenly between the cities of Prince George and Williams Lake, it is on the main route to Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. . Combined capital costs of the two investments are projected to exceed $400 million. The two mills will produce approximately 1.5 billion square feet (3/8" basis) of panels annually. The two projects are expected to create 250 direct jobs in the facilities and another 500 jobs in related woodlands operations. One of the many benefits of the new Ainsworth OSB mills is that they will use logs from beetle-killed pine stands that have degraded to a state which makes them undesirable for lumber production. Studies conducted for Ainsworth have shown that high quality OSB can be produced from dry pine for three decades after infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. . The plan to use this timber is indicative of Ainsworth's continuing product innovation and its commitment to responsible and sustainable forest stewardship. The company was the highest bidder for two large beetle licences in the central interior offered by the Ministry of Forests. Ainsworth acknowledges that the First Nations consultation process, required by the Province prior to issuing the licences is still ongoing. The company is optimistic that this issue will be successfully resolved within the coming months. Upon licence award by the Province and further community communication, a definitive construction schedule and final site locations will be identified. The licences are expected to allow Ainsworth to access 1.4 million cubic metres of dry pine timber annually. The completion of the Prince George and Quesnel projects will bring to five the number of mills operated by Ainsworth in British Columbia, the others being 100 Mile House, Savona (plywood) and the veneer mill in Lillooet. About the Ainsworth Group of Companies Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd., one of the Group of Ainsworth Companies, is a leading Canadian forest products company with a 53-year reputation for high-quality products and customer service. The company has operations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, Canada as well as Minnesota. AinsworthEngineered(R) OSB sheathing and flooring products are certified to APA (All Points Addressable) Refers to an array (bitmapped screen, matrix, etc.) in which all bits or cells can be individually manipulated. APA - Application Portability Architecture quality standards and known for their consistent quality, reliability and competitive price. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion