Ga.-Pacific Lays Off 50; Closes Plywood, Stud Mill

Georgia-Pacific has permanently closed its plywood mill at Monticello, according to Melodie Ruse, a spokesperson for the company.

“We had been operating a steam boiler at the plywood mill that supplied the steam to run both our medium density fiberboard (MDF) and stud mills located at the same complex as the plywood mill. We have made the decision to close the plywood boiler and obtain the steam needed for the MDF plant with a boiler that is already located in the MDF plant,” she said.

The announcement also said that without the plywood boiler and with the permanent closure of the plywood mill, Ga.-Pacific has also made the “difficult decision to permanently close the stud mill.”

The market-related closure will affect about 50 employees, the announcement said. “These employees have done a great job in difficult circumstances, but housing starts (our lumber is primarily used for construction of new homes) are down to 581,000 this year, compared to more than two million in 2005.

The last day of work for those affected employees will be sometime in December.