Interfor Announces Completion of Pope & Talbot Transaction

International Forest Products Limited announced today that it has concluded its previously announced transaction with Pope & Talbot, Inc.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

From the frying pan into the fire. New boss same as the old boss. Most staff leftover from Westar days was taken in under wing of Interfor "vulture". Pope made the mistake of leaving the Westar "seed" to grow and choke out the fruit, and it would seem now that Westar has returned to reap what it sowed. With all the shallow thinkers left,(a second time), to carry on their short sighted visions of sawmill management, does anyone out there really think they are better off? My prediction is 18 months down, at least. Why? Union contract up in July '09 and after 18 months, no right to recall by seniority. Time to get into mining.

[Just hanging in there]

Can PT emerge with only Harmac remaining?

[Planerboy]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

From the frying pan into the fire. New boss same as the old boss. Most staff leftover from Westar days was taken in under wing of Interfor "vulture". Pope made the mistake of leaving the Westar "seed" to grow and choke out the fruit, and it would seem now that Westar has returned to reap what it sowed. With all the shallow thinkers left,(a second time), to carry on their short sighted visions of sawmill management, does anyone out there really think they are better off? My prediction is 18 months down, at least. Why? Union contract up in July '09 and after 18 months, no right to recall by seniority. Time to get into mining.

If you are so gifted with such great intelligents, why didn't you purchase the mills and run them?

I'll let you finish this for me; If you don't have anything good to say..........

[the wolf]

Hi Gf & C workers if you are willing to relocate I will tell you a little secret have a good resume and target the speciallty mills they are doing well and are hiring. I do not know why the union will not tell you this O there is a lot of Independents thats why but if you really need a job?

[lumberbaron]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

From the frying pan into the fire. New boss same as the old boss. Most staff leftover from Westar days was taken in under wing of Interfor "vulture". Pope made the mistake of leaving the Westar "seed" to grow and choke out the fruit, and it would seem now that Westar has returned to reap what it sowed. With all the shallow thinkers left,(a second time), to carry on their short sighted visions of sawmill management, does anyone out there really think they are better off? My prediction is 18 months down, at least. Why? Union contract up in July '09 and after 18 months, no right to recall by seniority. Time to get into mining.

From what I've heard, there isn't much of anyone period left to run Castlegar, never mind the ex-Westar group. That reduces the mill overhead costs and that to me is a strong hint that Castlegar won't be up for a while.

As for the contract expiring, that's just gravy for Interfor, though I can't see the seniority retention just disappearing without a fight out of Cranbrook.

However, Interfor's track record on the coast doesn't sit well for me either.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

IntelligenCE-(noun) to have the ability to understand. Does not mean I had 69 million to invest like Wes, oops, Interfor.

[Planerboy]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

IntelligenCE-(noun) to have the ability to understand. Does not mean I had 69 million to invest like Wes, oops, Interfor.

You can spell. Thank you. If you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

Planerboy wrote:

<quoted text>
You can spell. Thank you. If you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem.

I, am neither, just an informed observer. You, however, should think of an original line instead of some regurgitated rhetoric you once overheard some pompous HR wannabe utter, unless.......you must be.....?

[Planerboy]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

<quoted text>
I, am neither, just an informed observer. You, however, should think of an original line instead of some regurgitated rhetoric you once overheard some pompous HR wannabe utter, unless.......you must be.....?

That's the thing about TOPIX, you never are sure who anyone is. We are all allowed to share our true thoughts. Some are not as strong to say what they are really thinking.
I have never hidden my feelings towards how I feel about work ethic, and that includes all employees and management. We all get paid to do a required task. The truth of the matter is, if we don't like the way it is run, it's a free country, and we are free to work where ever we want.
Many ex-P@T workers are afraid of the future, and Interfor. We must all keep in mind that Interfor now owns the house that we all visit for 40 hours a week. Do you go into someone else's house and tell them how to run it? I think not, because you would not stand for that yourself.
The only ones afraid of Interfor are the ones who probably should be. Interfor doesn't put up with BS. That also applies to management. Remember the saying,"An honest days work for an honest days pay". It still applies today. If everybody lives by that, working for Interfor is no problem.
And to you,"WESTAR REINCARNATED", if what I post isn't original enough for you. I really don't care. I say what I feel and what I know many believe.
Maybe that's why most are trying to figure out who I am.

[Planerboy]

lumberbaron wrote:

<quoted text>
From what I've heard, there isn't much of anyone period left to run Castlegar, never mind the ex-Westar group. That reduces the mill overhead costs and that to me is a strong hint that Castlegar won't be up for a while.
As for the contract expiring, that's just gravy for Interfor, though I can't see the seniority retention just disappearing without a fight out of Cranbrook.
However, Interfor's track record on the coast doesn't sit well for me either.

"lumberbaron", you're a smart man. The situation in Castlegar does seem more uncertain. With no management team in place, it sure does make one wonder what the long and short term plan is.
Time will tell, and until we see stronger market conditions, it is hard to predict the path that Interfor will take.

[nuts]

Castlegar haveing little management team left may be a plus as new people won't be stuck on P&t ways'
So castlegar may start up first with new management and closer access to pulp mill with no increase in transportation costs,Castlegar also has a wider selection of products to run.

[Planerboy]

nuts wrote:

Castlegar haveing little management team left may be a plus as new people won't be stuck on P&t ways'
So castlegar may start up first with new management and closer access to pulp mill with no increase in transportation costs,Castlegar also has a wider selection of products to run.

Good Point.

[lumberbaron]

nuts wrote:

Castlegar haveing little management team left may be a plus as new people won't be stuck on P&t ways'
So castlegar may start up first with new management and closer access to pulp mill with no increase in transportation costs,Castlegar also has a wider selection of products to run.

Could happen, but I don't think it's going to be like flicking on a light switch and running at full tilt again. There's a whole whack of variables like:

Log inventory? What's in the lake?
Loggers? Do we have any left in Nakusp? Do they have contracts with Interfor?
Tradespeople? Any left? If not, will they come back?
Graders? Are their enough graders for 2 shifts?
Chips? What's Mercer/Celgar going to pay? Does their agreement with Pope apply or is it a new one?
By Products? Chambers still taking shavings/dust? Or does Interfor use Arrow, etc?
Staff? Enough capable staff left to train up the new Interfor guys on Lockouts/Operations/People?

Granted, there may be answers to a lot of these questions already. But a lot of these questions can apply to GF as well.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

There are virtually no sawlogs left in the lake.
All the evergreen contracts are tore up so no, there is nothing on paper with Interfor.
Most tradespeople have moved on, except for the old guard.
Celgar is currently re/re their woodroom to handle 1 million meters a year.
Canpar is done, so byproducts?
Staff, 12 left I think. 2 man security crew, 4 and 4 rotation, with 4 men to cover vacation and supervision.
GF......well? what do you know Planerboy?

[nuts]

I don't know what lake are you looking in,there is 100,000 cubic meters in the lake 6 weeks of flat out.or 3 months of one and cedar up first.The union did meet with them and were told no imediate plans and could be up to 6 months.They first intend to re-start TFL.

[Planerboy]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

There are virtually no sawlogs left in the lake.
All the evergreen contracts are tore up so no, there is nothing on paper with Interfor.
Most tradespeople have moved on, except for the old guard.
Celgar is currently re/re their woodroom to handle 1 million meters a year.
Canpar is done, so byproducts?
Staff, 12 left I think. 2 man security crew, 4 and 4 rotation, with 4 men to cover vacation and supervision.
GF......well? what do you know Planerboy?

All I know is that the management team in GF is hopeful for start-up soon. I don't think that they have been given too much information. Let's give them a chance to adjust to new ownership. I don't think, under P@T rule they were allowed to make all the decisions that they wanted.
Interfor has only owned these two mills for a couple of days, and I don't think they were going to jump the gun on saying anything until the ink is dry.
The reality is this, markets have to improve. I believe Interfor when they say they bought the mills to run them. Why else would they bother.
All of the BS talk about union contracts, I don't think Interfor has even thought that far ahead. I think they are thinking about the present market conditions, and if the demand for product increases, Interfor will be ready. Interfor is here to make money, and we all have to remember, that if they are not making money, and running at a loss, they will last as long as P@T.
All I am saying is, give them a chance. These were big purchases and they don't want to make any mistakes that could jeopardise their operation. Hey, they did buy the mills, and that is a good thing. We all should be happy they came along. I think the hard times we are facing now will pay off in the future. If we can all hang in there for a while I think we will all be OK.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

Planerboy; Everyone is hopefull for a timely startup, and your right again, Interfor is playing their cards close to their chest so no one "knows" what they are thinking, and they sure as hell aren't going to let any leftovers make any decisions about their new aquisitions.
Your reality check is again correct. Poor markets, par dollar, and 15 percent export tax, add up to doom and gloom. Nothing new here.
Sawmills need a double digit per unit cost of production or there is no hope. Neither GF or CG has even approached that benchmark.
I'm new to this forum, so forgive me if this comment has already been brought up..........What about Adams Lake? Rumored to be short over 600 thousand meters of logs to meet production goals. And, with all the trouble up north and in the middle of the province, where would you go for a secure, bug free, source of fibre?
No further than HWYs #1 and #6. A literal smorgasbord of species mix, destined to make money,(in the right hands).
I believe Adams Lake is non-union also,(I may be wrong though). Good luck convincing them to fire up your mill, when their $120 million super mill sits idle, waiting for dead and dry from the north.

[lumberbaron]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

What about Adams Lake? Rumored to be short over 600 thousand meters of logs to meet production goals. And, with all the trouble up north and in the middle of the province, where would you go for a secure, bug free, source of fibre?
No further than HWYs #1 and #6. A literal smorgasbord of species mix, destined to make money,(in the right hands).
.

Interfor snagged the south half the timber allocated to Weyco's Kamloops mill which went down for good about a month ago. West Fraser took the north half. I would imagine one would send that timber to Adams Lake, as it is way closer than the Arrow Boundary region.

[Planerboy]

WESTAR REINCARNATED wrote:

Planerboy; Everyone is hopefull for a timely startup, and your right again, Interfor is playing their cards close to their chest so no one "knows" what they are thinking, and they sure as hell aren't going to let any leftovers make any decisions about their new aquisitions.
Your reality check is again correct. Poor markets, par dollar, and 15 percent export tax, add up to doom and gloom. Nothing new here.
Sawmills need a double digit per unit cost of production or there is no hope. Neither GF or CG has even approached that benchmark.
I'm new to this forum, so forgive me if this comment has already been brought up..........What about Adams Lake? Rumored to be short over 600 thousand meters of logs to meet production goals. And, with all the trouble up north and in the middle of the province, where would you go for a secure, bug free, source of fibre?
No further than HWYs #1 and #6. A literal smorgasbord of species mix, destined to make money,(in the right hands).
I believe Adams Lake is non-union also,(I may be wrong though). Good luck convincing them to fire up your mill, when their $120 million super mill sits idle, waiting for dead and dry from the north.

Looks like "lumberbaron" answered that one for me. He's quick on the draw, and smart too.

[WESTAR REINCARNATED]

Ditto.