HEARST, Ont. (CP) — Columbia Forest Products says it will shut down its particleboard plant in Northern Ontario indefinitely in November citing poor market conditions.
The company said the move will mean laying off 83 of its total Canadian workforce of about 530 people.
Columbia said high energy costs, low product prices, a high Canadian dollar, softening demand and a growing market over-capacity are to blame for the move.
''We regret that this decision is necessary, but the market conditions we're facing simply prevent the particleboard operation from performing on a financially viable basis,'' Columbia president Brad Thompson said in a statement late Wednesday.
''We don't know how long these factors will be in place.''
The plant will close as of Nov. 12.
Thompson said the company would help customers find options to keep their supply lines full throughout the duration of the plant's closure.
Portland, Ore.-based Columbia Forest Products was founded in 1957 and calls itself North America's largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer.