OUR BUSINESS
Conifex is a next generation Canadian forest products company operating in one of the richest fibre baskets in North America, northern British Columbia. We produce high-quality lumber products and renewable energy from our sawmill and bioenergy plant in Mackenzie, B.C.
Lumber
Bioenergy
Forest Management
LUMBER
Conifex’s primary business is the sustainable harvest of timber and the manufacture of high-quality lumber for sale to markets in North America and Japan.
We produce all grades of Western SPF dimension lumber and studs from timber sourced from SFI®-certified forests around our host community of Mackenzie in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
Our Products
Our Sales Team
We believe in strong and lasting customer relationships and are committed to consistently delivering quality products as and when required, and to meeting or exceeding our customers’ expectations. Please email sales@conifex.com to discuss your specific needs.
BIOENERGY
Mackenzie Biomass Power Project
We believe one of the strengths of our company is our relentless focus on innovative new ways to get the most out of the resource that sustains us.
Early on, we saw an opportunity to create additional value for the company by generating clean energy for British Columbians through the construction of a biomass power plant that would use residual materials from our sawmill operations.
Completed in May 2015, our 36 MW bioenergy plant is located next to our Mackenzie sawmill site. It produces up to 230 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy per year – enough to provide power to 20,000 British Columbia homes – and is sold to BC Hydro through a long-term power supply agreement.
While the majority of the timber we harvest is turned into high quality lumber products, a substantial amount of residual fibre (sawdust, chips and bark) is also produced during the manufacturing process. Similarly, not all of the timber harvested from the forest can be used for lumber (for example, tree tops, branches and low grade logs damaged by insects and disease).
These residuals used to be considered waste. Now, the clean energy produced by our biomass power plant is equivalent to taking 13,500 cars off the road each year. We are able to realize the full value of the forest fibre we manage, strengthening our traditional lumber business, and generating clean energy that contributes to British Columbia’s greenhouse gas reduction goals and the B.C. Government’s CleanBC targets.
FOREST MANAGEMENT
We are privileged to call Mackenzie, British Columbia home. Located in Northern B.C., on the western edge of the majestic Rocky Mountains and east of the Omineca Range, Mackenzie is home to our sawmill, power plant, most of our employees, and the endless forests that surround it, where you’ll find the highest-quality softwood in North America.
In B.C., 95% of forests are publicly owned. Portions of the forest are managed through long-term licenses by companies like ours. At Conifex, we are committed to being leaders in responsibly managing this important resource on behalf of the people of British Columbia.
Harvesting
Let’s be clear: harvesting timber from the forest land base is, by definition, what we do. But how we do it is the most important thing.
Forests provide a bounty of economic, environmental and social benefits. To us, sustainable forest management means ensuring these benefits are shared by our communities, employees and customers today and in the future. It also means that customers can be confident Conifex products come from sustainably managed and certified forests.
Conifex employs sustainable logging practices, managing the forests for multiple values, with the understanding that we are stewards of the biological diversity, recreational benefits, water, air and soil quality and other ecosystem benefits our forests provide.
Fibre Management
Conifex operates in the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area (TSA) with an Allowable Annual Cut of 632,500 cubic metres. We also have a 50% interest in a forest licence with an Allowable Annual Cut of 300,000 cubic metres.
Our replaceable fibre licenses provide approximately 85% of our current total annual requirements, which is significantly higher than most other forest companies in British Columbia. Our remaining needs are sourced from select offerings of standing timber inventory, log trades, log sales and fibre swaps to ensure full fibre flow as and when needed.
Harvesting
Let’s be clear: harvesting timber from the forest land base is, by definition, what we do. But how we do it is the most important thing.
Forests provide a bounty of economic, environmental and social benefits. To us, sustainable forest management means ensuring these benefits are shared by our communities, employees and customers today and in the future. It also means that customers can be confident Conifex products come from sustainably managed and certified forests.
Conifex employs sustainable logging practices, managing the forests for multiple values, with the understanding that we are stewards of the biological diversity, recreational benefits, water, air and soil quality and other ecosystem benefits our forests provide.
Sustainable Forest Initiative
Our woodlands operations are guided by Forest Stewardship Plans submitted to and approved by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range and are independently managed by the internationally recognized Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI).
Programme For Endorsement Of Forest Certification
Conifex is also committed to implementing and maintaining the requirements of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Chain of Custody Standard PEFC ST 2002:2013. Our adherence to the PEFC Standard provides our customers and the end consumers the confidence that the raw materials of our products originate from sustainably managed forests.
Conifex Sustainability Policy
Conifex is committed to responsible stewardship of the environment. We recognize that environmental excellence, particularly sustainable forest management, is crucial to our long-term business success.