Millar Western completes $6 million capital project at Whitecourt sawmill
The beginning of October brought the on-time, on-budget completion of Millar Western’s most recent major capital investment at its Whitecourt sawmill, the installation of a second trimmer/sorter line, designed to further enhance the efficiency of the mill. The success of the project was a credit to the skill and hard work of mill personnel, who started setting new production records within days of the new line’s start-up.
At the same time last year, in October 2005, the company had completed another $6 million investment at the Whitecourt lumber operation, installing a new small-log breakdown line at the centre of the mill. This year’s investment complements the earlier project, matching the enhanced productivity of the small-log line with new speed and capacity at the back end of the mill. In the process of debottlenecking, the two projects have effectively converted the mill from a single-line to a two-line operation.
Since launching its newest, $40 million sawmill in Whitecourt five years ago, Millar Western has continually invested in improvements to the state-of-the-art facility, to increase production, reduce manufacturing costs and maximize the value of lumber produced from each log processed. During that period, the mill’s capacity has increased by almost 50%, from 190 million board feet per year in 2001 to 280 million today, and its efficiency has positioned it among Canada’s low-cost lumber operations.