Interfor takes over four Simpson Lumber sawmills for € 77 million

Interfor, Vancouver/CA, continues its shopping tour. For US$ 94.7 million (€ 77.4 million), the North American forest products group took over four sawmills owned by Simpson Lumber, Tacoma/US. These are the mills in Longview and Commencement Bay in Washington State as well as in Meldrim, Georgia, and Georgetown, South Carolina. In both regions – the US Northwest and Southeast – Interfor already has sawmills running.

The four new locations have a combined production capacity of 750 million bft/yr (1.2 million m³/yr), with the latest utilization rate being around 75%. This brings Interfor to a total lumber production capacity of 3.1 billion bft/yr (4.96 million m³/yr). According to the company release, it thus remains the fastest growing sawmill company in the world. In February, it had taken over two US sawmills from Ilim Timber. Last year, Interfor bought the Rayoniers sawmills (s. Links).