Plum Creek cuts another 145 jobs

Plum Creek manufacturing announced Thursday it will trim 145 more jobs in local mills as the lumber markets and wood products markets continue to slump. In addition, 221 will temporarily lose their jobs through this month and next, and possibly into March.

The company will permanently close its Ksanka mill, and in Columbia Falls it is trimming 35 jobs from its Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) plant. The sawmill in Columbia Falls will shut down through this month, February and possibly into March.

The MDF plant will go down to two shifts starting Jan. 19 because of weak demand, the company said.

The Ksanka mill closure will finalize by March and means the loss of 74 jobs. The Pablo sawmill will reduce its operating level from the current 1.5 shifts to one shift, cutting 36 employees. The company will also see temporarily shut downs at the Evergreen sawmill located in Kalispell for the remainder of January, February and potentially March. Both Ksanka and Evergreen mills produce stud grade lumber for home construction.

When lumber markets improve, the Evergreen sawmill will have the capacity to absorb some of the volume previously produced at Ksanka, the company said.

The Evergreen curtailment means the loss of work for 88 workers, and the Columbia Falls sawmill curtailment means loss of work for 133 workers.

“The forest products industry in general and the lumber business in particular have been severely impacted by the battered housing market,” said Rick Holley, Plum Creek president and chief executive officer. “The closure of the Ksanka studmill and reductions in production levels at our other facilities are painful steps to take due to the job losses and impacts to a number of our valued employees. Unfortunately, these steps are necessary to match supply with the eroding demand for our wood products.”

Plum Creek will provide severance to the affected employees at the Ksanka, Pablo and MDF facilities. In compliance with federal law, the Ksanka mill employees were provided with a 60-day advance notice of the mill closing.

Plum Creek had 1,161 employees in Montana prior to the cuts. It will now have 1,016, though not all of them are in manufacturing. Add in the temporary cuts and employment drops to 940 through at least February.

The shut downs at mills will also affect contractors, as the mills don’t need any logs when the mills are shut down.