In a news release, the company said the layoffs are due to “unfavorable conditions in the North American plywood market.”
Roseburg owns and manages more than 600,000 acres of timberland in Oregon, North Carolina and Virginia.
“After waiting for months for markets to improve, we have reached the point where a layoff is necessary to better match supply with weakened demand,” Senior Vice President of Operations Jake Elston said in the news release. “This is an unfortunate but necessary step toward preserving the long-term viability of our plywood business.”
The company offered about 50 employees jobs at its other Oregon-based wood product plants. The remaining employees will be considered first if other positions open up in the future.
Roseburg’s other Oregon plywood facilities — like plants in Riddle and Coquille — will continue operations as usual.
Back in March, OPB reported on a federal investigation into Roseburg regarding the company’s usage of potentially illegally logged wood from African rainforests.
The company did not mention that investigation as having anything to do with the layoffs.
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