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Vernon's Tolko Industries partners on another new US sawmill

Tolko invests in US mill

Vernon's Tolko Industries has announced it will build a new sawmill in Louisiana in a joint partnership with U.S. company Hunt Forest Products.

The $240-million, state-of-the-art facility will be built in Bienville Parish, near Taylor, La., Tolko announced Monday. Construction is expected to start in early 2022.

The mill will employ about 60 people when operations begin in the first half of 2023, and 130 people when it is operating at full capacity.

“We are excited to be bringing our second high-tech sawmill, and the skilled jobs it will provide, to Louisiana, and to provide a local outlet for the massive inventory of southern yellow pine that exists in this state,” said James D. Hunt, co-owner and vice chairman of Hunt.

It's estimated the mill will produce about 320 million board feet of lumber annually.

Tolko is a 60-year-old, family-owned Canadian forest industry company with its headquarters in Vernon.

The company previously partnered with Hunt to build a sawmill in Urania, La., which began operations in 2018.

Last year, Tolko also partnered on a joint-venture sawmill in Alabama with Jasper Lumber Co.

Tolko will own a 50 per cent share in the new mill, which will be managed and operated by Hunt on a day-to-day basis.

“Our first venture into the United States was in partnership with Hunt Forest Products, a family-owned company like ours, and that has been very successful,” Tolko CEO Brad Thorlakson said in a press release. “So, we are looking forward to working with the Hunt family again to bring another state-of-the-art sawmill, and jobs, to Louisiana.”



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