Western completes Saltair sawmill kiln upgrade

Western Forest Products has completed its first continuous dry kiln on the coast of British Columbia at the company’s Saltair sawmill. The company also plans to continue accelerating its transition to higher value products with approximately $35 million of investments for two additional continuous dry kilns.

The newly installed $12 million continuous dry kiln at the Saltair Sawmill increases the mill’s capacity for continuous drying of lumber, and also provides environmental benefits by reducing energy consumption. The new kiln adds to the three existing kilns on site for drying lumber. The Saltair sawmill is the largest single-line sawmill on the coast of British Columbia following previous multi-phase strategic capital investments of over $42 million to modernize the sawmill since 2013.

Following the successful completion of its first continuous dry kiln, Western is pushing ahead with two additional continuous dry kiln projects. One of the kilns will be constructed at the company’s Duke Point sawmill in Nanaimo, BC, and the other one at its value-added division in Chemainus, BC. Each of the new kilns will have an annual capacity of approximately 70 million board feet. The additional capacity will support increased volumes of kiln dried products, including lumber used to produce glued laminated timber for mass timber applications.