Weyerhaeuser closes Louisiana mill

Weyerhaeuser Co. said Tuesday that the long slide of the U.S. housing market has led to the permanent closure of its lumber mill near Taylor in Bienville Parish, putting 39 people out of work.

Federal Way, Wash.-based Weyerhaeuser said the closure is effective immediately.

The housing meltdown has depressed demand for all kinds of wood products.

"We fully understand the major impact of this closure on our employees, contractors and the Taylor community, and we will work constructively in the weeks and months ahead on the transition," said Tim Gideon, Weyerhaeuser's executive vice president of forest products.

Weyerhaeuser said it would provide transition benefits for the workers.

The closure, announced Tuesday, is effective immediately and puts 39 people out of work. Weyerhaeuser says it will provide transition benefits.

The company said it continues to employ about 925 people in Louisiana at manufacturing plants in Arcadia, Dodson, Holden, Natchitoches and Taylor and in the managing of about 1 million acres of timber it owns in the state.

Problems in the state's wood products industry preceded the financial meltdown in October and the resulting deep recession.

In late 2008, International Paper Co. closed its pulp mill in Bastrop, terminating 550 employees, in what started as a seven-week shutdown.

In March, Weyerhaeuser indefinitely shut mills in Simsboro and Dodson, eliminating a total of 185 jobs. Wood products manufacturers also have trimmed payrolls and ordered temporary production shutdowns in an attempt to balance supply with demand during the recession.

Tembec, a Canadian paper products company, closed its St. Francisville mill in July 2007, ending about 540 jobs with a $50 million annual payroll. Tembec said it lost $235 million during its first five years of operation after buying the facility in 2001 from Crown Vantage.

On April 17, the state announced an incentive deal under which the mill was purchased by New York-based PanAmerican Capital Group for $16 million. Gov. Bobby Jindal said 200 workers are expected to be employed at the mill by early 2010.

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