News Release

BELLEDUNE (GNB) – The provincial government has reached an agreement with Chaleur Sawmills which will see it receive an additional 30,000 cubic metres of wood for its facility in Belledune.

The company will receive the new wood supply under the Strategy for Crown Lands Forest Management. The additional allocation will result in $5.5 million in upgrades to Chaleur’s operations.

“Once again, we see this great example of how our new forestry strategy will help important companies like Chaleur Sawmill become more efficient and competitive,” said Natural Resources Minister Paul Robichaud. “It is great to see a saw mill that is already considered one of the best in the province want to become even better.”

The mill currently has 200 employees, with an additional 100 working directly for Chaleur’s logging contractors.

“These investments will help us retain our employees and will keep our operation strong,” said the general manager of the mill Duane Woods. “We are very pleased that the government has recognized our operations’ success and has increased our allocations so we can grow even more.”

Its products support facilities such as AVCell, Shaw Resources, Twin Rivers, the Port of Belledune and CN Rail as well as hospitals in Tracadie-Sheila, Bathurst, Campbellton and Miramichi, where it’s used in heating and cooling systems.

The company also uses 1,200 railcars annually for transport as well as the Port of Belledune to move its products to the United States and Middle East.

Woods said the sawmill has one of the best recovery factors of all Canadian sawmills, meaning it recovers more lumber out of every tree than any other sawmill in the Maritimes.

“This is very important for us as we do not waste any of the crown wood which we are fortunate to process,” Woods said.

The increase will bring its annual allocation to 363,000 cubic metres.

In addition to the extra wood it will receive, the company will need to buy an additional 20,000 cubic metres from third parties – including private woodlots – to meet its requirement.

“We are very pleased that this will help the Chaleur Sawmill which is vital to this rural, northern area of New Brunswick,” Robichaud said. “Our new forestry strategy has paid dividends throughout the province and the Chaleur region is no exception.”

The forestry strategy announced in March outlined an additional 600,000 cubic metres of crown forests being made available. It resulted in private investments of $600 million, the creation of 500 full-time jobs and 1,200 construction jobs. The industry currently supports approximately 20,000 jobs and is worth $1.45 billion annually.