Calgary Firm Turning Shuttered Pulp Mill into Distribution Hub

A developer of modernized rail and adjacent infrastructure is set to transform a shuttered pulp mill into an industrial distribution and logistics hub in Taylor, British Columbia.

Calgary-based Buffalo Rail & Infrastructure Corp. shared March 19 that it secured a $7 million acquisition of Canfor Pulp Products’ recently discontinued pulp mill assets in Taylor, which include over 300 acres of heavy industrial land. Buffalo plans to repurpose the property over time into a multi-use hub focused on serving the region’s energy, agricultural and forestry industries.

A project fact sheet from Buffalo details that the property includes a 60,000-square-foot rail dock warehouse that can facilitate rail deliveries and storage opportunities for industrial products, tubulars/pipe, chemicals and fluids on an immediate basis. Beyond that, the available land and tankage on-site positions the site for liquids and shipments, specialty blending and dry bulk handling.

“When one door closes, another one opens for this site,” Buffalo President and CEO Jarrett Zielinski said in a news release. “We, along with our stakeholders at Buffalo Rail, were able to establish new uses for the discontinued pulp mill that will optimize the site’s characteristics and support industrial growth in the region. The multi-phased, multi-year development provides a much-needed response to the changing logistics and supply chains needs of industrial participants across multiple industries and sectors in Western Canada and beyond.”

Buffalo noted that the first phase of the project’s development involves an estimated $50+ million capital investment in the area, which will create 100 construction jobs and 30 full-time permanent jobs on the site. Phase 1 — which addresses industry bottlenecks with a frac sand unloading terminal — is projected to become operational around the second quarter of 2025.

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