West Fraser completes acquisition of Georgia Pacific OSB mill in South Carolina

West Fraser originally announced its plan to acquire the mill at the end of October.

The acquisition, for US$280m, was completed following successful completion of US regulatory reviews and satisfaction of customary conditions.

The Allendale facility, which initially began producing OSB in 2007, has been idle since late 2019 and has an estimated stated capacity of approximately 760 million square feet.

West Fraser intends to invest an estimated US$70m of additional capital to upgrade and optimise the facility in preparation for its restart and this upgrade is anticipated to take approximately nine months to complete.

The mill is expected to directly employ approximately 135 people and be one of the lowest cost mills in the company’s OSB portfolio after the optimisation is complete and the mill has ramped up to full production, a process that typically takes 18-24 months after restart.

Recent West Fraser OSB mill restarts include Chambord, Quebec in March 2021 as well as Huguley, Alabama (2017) and Jefferson, Texas (2013).

After modernisation, the Allendale facility will enhance West Fraser’s OSB portfolio with its attractive location in the US South where fibre is abundant and low-cost. The mill’s additional OSB capacity will also give West Fraser the flexibility to better meet customer demand, particularly from large, growing end-markets in the south eastern US.