Arbec Forest Products was still trying to acquire a Crown wood allocation for Weyerhaeuser’s shuttered 420 million ft2/year OSB mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick a month after confirming its interest in buying the facility, reports the Miramichi Leader.
Arbec’s bid looked like being sidelined after the province's natural resources minister Donald Arseneault hinted the government was considering a non-forestry related opportunity combining the wood allocations of the former Weyerhaeuser and UPM mills.
Mr Arseneault has indicated that Arbec’s proposal, along with others, would be given renewed consideration if that proposal did not go through.
Weyerhaeuser spokesperson Wayne Roznowski said Arbec had signed an exclusivity agreement with Weyerhaeuser, but that it would expire if the deal were not concluded. He also said there had not been "people lined up to buy it. The mill has been on the market essentially for a couple of years now.”