CANADA – On April 4TH during a press conference held inside the empty facility it was announced that the newly crowned Pembroke MDF plant - formally ATC Panels - will resume operations this July.
The plant has been closed since the end of 2008 due to the economic downturn. The restart of the Plant would create 110 jobs plus another 40 when the mouldings plant is reopened. Jose Kofman, Pembroke MDF president, told the large assembly of local VIPs, politicians, company officials, government staff and economic development people they always hoped to reopen the plant, which has been in sleep mode for the past five to six years, since being forced to shut it down at the end of 2008.
"We were confronted with a very ugly economic situation," he said, a perfect storm of lessened demand, higher costs for wood fibre and a steep increase in the price of electricity. Together, it made the MDF plant uneconomical to run, and so they were forced to close it down until things improved. Furthermore, Pembroke MDF Inc. has been successful in an application for funding under the Industrial Electricity Incentive Stream 2 program that will provide access to competitive electricity rates. Thus enabling competitive operations for the mill.
