Portland-based lumber company Hampton Affiliates announced on October 17 that it will lay off 80 workers at its Darrington, Wash. sawmill in response to poor domestic sales and more log exports to China. The announcement comes only a month after the company announced 80 layoffs at its Randle, Wash. sawmill, citing the same reasons.
Like Randle, the Darrington mill will reduce its weekly operating hours from 80 to 50 once existing orders have been met.
Hampton Affiliates employs 1,600 people in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, owns 93,000 acres of timberland and operates eight sawmills. The company said it has no plans to close any of its sawmills but it will reduce schedules at most while awaiting the U.S. housing market to recover.