COEUR d'ALENE Layoffs have been worse than usual at northern Idaho sawmills this winter.
Industry officials blame high log prices, low pulp prices and competitive pressure from Canadian mills.
The latest company to send workers home temporarily is Louisiana-Pacific Corp., which will shut down two sawmills this weekend.
Sixty workers at its Chilco sawmill, north of Coeur d'Alene, and 55 workers at the Sandpoint mill will be idled until more logs are available and lumber prices improve, said Jim Beldin, a company spokesman in Hayden Lake.
Beldin said the two mills could re-open by the second week of February.
In Boundary County, Crown Pacific shut down its Bonners Ferry sawmill this week because of poor lumber market conditions.
However, the 50 people out of work will return to their jobs Monday, said Fletcher Chamberlin, spokesman for Crown in Portland.
"It was strictly market conditions," that closed the mill for a week, he said.
Lumber prices have been lackluster for a year. Higher prices for pulp chips kept some sawmills cutting logs. But lower pulp prices have hurt that end of the sawmill business, leading to this week's layoff notices, Beldin said.
Short-term layoffs are common in the lumber business, as mills go through maintenance cycles and as demand for lumber drops during the winter.
Imported Canadian lumber has hurt sawmills like L-P's, Beldin said. Trade negotiations continue in Washington, D.C., between the U.S. and Canada.