Sundre Forest Products (SFP), the largest forest company operation in West Central Alberta, will be focusing on wrapping up equipment upgrades, continuing operations and replacing older stock this year, say officials.
The company will also be continuing to work on its forest management plan, which includes the ongoing fight against the potentially devastating mountain pine beetle.
"We have increased our cut, working with the province, to try to combat the mountain pine beetle,î Alex Taylor, general manager of SFP, told the Gazette.
Company officials have been cutting trees in areas particularly susceptible to the beetle, in order to prevent infestation.
"We've been in an increased cut for a few years to try to combat the beetle and we're kind of breaking over and starting on the downward slope of that increase cut from the simple fact that most of the areas have been tackled, at least in our forest management unit,î he said.
There are currently 250 employees of SFP, he said, noting that there aren't any plans for an increase or a drop in the number of employees this year.
"In the last year and a half there's been almost 14 million dollars put into this place in the form of capital equipment upgrades,î he said.
Staff members are working on getting the equipment up to an expected level of performance this year.
The company will be employing some level of capital on major maintenance projects and equipment upgrades this year, he said.
Older technologies used by SFP need to be upgraded, which is also a focus for the company in 2013.
"We will be focusing on ensuring that we optimize what we currently have and replacing some of those things that are aging,î he said.
Stable pricing is a current trend for the business, and the market has been flat for the last two months, he said.
After a good year in 2012, Taylor is hoping for the same in 2013, he said.
