60 | Sector Focus: Panel Products
Top Left: Inside part of the mill’s control room Centre: New lay-up line from Raute Bottom left: Richply’s Ultra HDO Plus product
of cash and we purchased some land on the banks of the Fraser River,” he explained. “We built a plywood mill and ever since there has been a professional management team with a board of directors elected by the shareholders. It is a tight relationship where managers manage the business, employees run the plant and work quite closely to make sure we are going in the right direction.” Richply has stood the test of time and withstood global competition, believes Mr Sutherland, due to the diversity and quality of its product mix, the proximity of the river for log transportation (which also protects logs against fire) and the company’s novel ownership structure, which means no disruptions from labour disputes. Over the years, the wood diet has changed for the mill. Increasing emphasis on the environment and reforestation has led to protection of older growth forests, with the mill having to adapt to second growth forest comprising trees ranging from 50-80 years old.
The coastal region is predominantly Douglas fir, supplemented by spruce, pine, hemlock and balsam. “We have a very diverse product mix so we can consume all those species and put them in our panel constructions to meet the demands in the construction industry, both for residential and commercial building,” added Mr Sutherland.
MARKETS Richply consumes 500,000m3
◄ The Richply name will be familiar for its diverse value-added product mix including medium and high-density overlays (MDOs and HDOs) for concrete forming, paint grade MDOs for signage, specialty sanded and marine grade panels, as well as standard and select structural sheathing products. Mark Sutherland, the company’s vice- president of sales and marketing, told TTJ that the company still stands as unique in the plywood sector following nearly 70 years of operation. “We are a plywood producing co-operative, so a good portion of our employees are shareholders of the company,” said Mr Sutherland.
The company employs over 420 people, 250 of whom are shareholders, which means they get to vote on the company’s investment plans and other major decisions. “In 1956 we started off with 300 shareholders who each contributed C$5,000
TTJ | May/June 2025 |
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year, equating to an annual plywood production of approximately 220,000m3
of logs every .
“Our shipment geography is primarily North America, with Canada as the largest market,” explained Mr Sutherland. “We do have a significant volume that has been going into the US.”
Recent declarations on tariffs by the new US president are being watched closely by Richply.
Mr Sutherland said Canada and the US had close trading relationships in many industries, so both economies are closely connected. “By and large it has been a mutually beneficial economic arrangement between our two countries. The US is part of our geographic mix in terms of our shipments but [the latest tariffs declarations] is opening our eyes that we should be more diversified like we were in the past.”
He explained that the US-Canadian plywood trade enjoyed a more even trade balance, with companies in both countries sending their plywood across the border.
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