Shockwaves felt in N.B. forestry sector as Maine mill halts Canadian imports

A 10 per cent tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump slapped on timber imports this fall has prompted at least one mill in Maine to suspend shipments from New Brunswick, sending shockwaves through parts of the province's forestry industry.

Woodland Pulp LLC halted its purchases of New Brunswick timber starting Oct. 14, in light of the new tariff on softwood and certain hardwood timber, said company spokesperson Scott Beal.

"It certainly adds cost to the business and, you know, like other wood users, I mean we're always looking and hoping and trying to source fibre at the least cost," Beal said.

Beal said the company's purchase of wood had already been reduced in recent months due to a downturn in the global pulp market.

That downturn more recently prompted the company to pause receiving wood for 60 days, in addition to a planned 26-day long suspension of operations at its Baileyville, Me., which started over the weekend.

The shutdown has resulted in about 140 workers — about a third of the workforce — being laid off at Woodland Pulp, and at a neighbouring mill run by a sister company.

While poor market conditions were the primary reason for suspending operations, Beal said the tariffs didn't help, adding that up to 30 per cent of the wood the company processed until October came from New Brunswick.

"Once we come up out of the [shutdown] next month, we'll have to assess how this tariff will play into the grand scheme of things going forward. Right now, I don't think that that's fully understood," Beal said.

Woodland Pulp's demand for timber is something Karl Von Waldow built part of his business around over the past two years.

The owner of Waldow Farms said that in addition to sending his own timber across the border, he operated a wood yard near Sussex, where at least 50 producers would bring their product for him to truck across the border for them.

Almost all of it was headed to Woodland Pulp.

"I've had to change drastically what we're doing on this side and even pivot some of my operations just because we, we don't have the work. I mean it went from … 50 to 70 [tractor-trailer] loads per week to five," he said.

Von Waldow said he directly employed a handful of people full time to transport the wood to Maine. Some of them have been laid off, while others have been redeployed in different parts of the business.

He said redirecting the wood to other mills in New Brunswick isn't an alternative option because of the low prices being offered, or quotas limiting the amount of wood the mills can receive.