Mosaic Forest Management has announced an early winter shutdown of its forestry operations. The closure, which will take effect on Monday, Nov. 25, will affect hundreds of contracted forestry workers in central Vancouver Island and up to 2,000 along the coast.

鈥淲e are currently experiencing very challenging pricing and market conditions,鈥� Pam Agnew, media spokesperson for Mosaic, wrote in an e-mail to Black Press.

鈥淎s a result, we are shutting down earlier ahead of a usual winter shutdown. We are monitoring the situation closely and look forward to restarting production when the market outlook improves.

鈥淭he temporary curtailment impacts contractors, both union and non-union workers 鈥� approximately 2000 people 鈥� across the coast. Beginning next week the company will begin an orderly shutdown of production but will continue its planning and silviculture efforts to ensure that we are ready to resume harvesting when the market outlook improves.鈥�

鈥淲e are working with our customers and contractors to manage through this challenging time,鈥� she said.

Mosaic is a partnership formed between Island Timberlands and TimberWest in 2018.

susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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