Tolko’s Manitoba Sawmill Moves to One Shift

The Pas, Manitoba, Canada, 14 March 2008 -– Today Tolko notified employees of its plans to reduce shifting at the company’s Manitoba Solid Wood Division in The Pas from two shifts to one, effective 31 March.

“Lumber prices continue to deteriorate and current economics have reached a point where it does not make sense for us to operate for the purpose of producing commodity products,” says Dave Neufeld, plant manager. “As a one shift operation, we will focus on producing value-add products and supplying our Kraft Paper Division with chips.”

The shift reduction will affect 75 employees and 75 million board feet of production per year.

Tolko expects to increase shifting at the sawmill when market conditions improve.

Tolko Industries Ltd. is a private, Canadian-owned forest products company based in Vernon, British Columbia, with over 3800 employees. Tolko is a major producer and marketer of lumber, veneer, plywood, oriented strand board, and kraft papers, with manufacturing operations across Western Canada. The company’s woodlands operations have received third-party certification of their sustainable forest management systems.