West Fraser Timber to curtail oriented strand board mill in Alberta

West Fraser Timber (WFG) announced that it will indefinitely curtail its oriented strand board mill in High Level, Alberta in the spring of 2026 following an orderly wind-down and consumption of the mill’s existing log supply. This decision is the result of a significant weakening of OSB demand and is expected to reduce West Fraser’s capacity by 860M square feet. West Fraser expects to mitigate the impact on the approximate 190 affected employees at the site by providing work opportunities at other company operations, where available. West Fraser also confirmed that the idling of one of its production lines at its Cordele, Georgia OSB facility since late 2023 will continue indefinitely. The idled production line at Cordele has a capacity of 440M square feet. The most significant uses for West Fraser’s North American OSB products are residential construction, repair and remodelling and industrial applications. The High Level mill has been in the West Fraser family since the OSB line of business was acquired in 2021. West Fraser expects to record an approximately $200M asset impairment loss in the fourth quarter of 2025 in connection with the indefinite curtailment of the High Level OSB mill.