Business News

WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY ANNOUNCES WOOD PRODUCTS MILL AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER CLOSURES

Wednesday 11. March 2009 - Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) today announced that it will indefinitely close its iLevel veneer and engineered wood mills in Evergreen, Ala., and Dodson and Simsboro, La., and its TimberStrand mill in Chavies, Ky.

The company also announced the permanent closure of iLevel service centers in Albuquerque, N.M.; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; and Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. The announcement will affect approximately 480 employees at nine locations.
“Demand for wood products continues to decline due to a slowdown in the housing market, and virtually all of our operating facilities are experiencing reduced operations,” said Tom Gideon, executive vice president, Forest Products. “As a result of these challenging market conditions, the four manufacturing mills will close for an indefinite period of time to balance supply with our demand.”

Related to the closure of the five service centers, the company will continue to operate its 26 other building materials distribution sites. These service centers sell products including lumber, plywood, oriented strand board, engineered wood products, exterior siding, cedar and appearance wood products, insulation and other specialty building products to dealers and home improvement retailers.

“This was a very difficult decision impacting employees who have performed well,” Gideon said. “Unfortunately, extraordinarily weak market conditions in the homebuilding industry require that we take decisive action. We fully understand the major impact of this closure on our employees, contractors and communities, and we will work constructively in the weeks and months ahead on the transition.”

Weyerhaeuser will supply customers with products from its other iLevel facilities. The company will support affected employees with transition benefits.