Former pulp mill site to become world-scale distribution hub
In response to post-pandemic supply chain challenges, a recently formed Calgary company, Buffalo Rail & Infrastructure Corp. (Buffalo) has purchased the pulp mill site in Taylor to repurpose into a multi-use industrial distribution and logistics hub, focusing on serving the region’s energy, agricultural and forest industries.
The $7 million purchase of the site from Canfor Pulp was announced last month, following Canfor’s permanent shut-down of the mill in February 2023.
While the loss of the Canfor Pulp Mill was a blow to the community, the District of Taylor is looking forward to working with Buffalo to breathe new life and prosperity into the site.
“Buffalo’s plans to redevelop and diversify the site is encouraging and We are looking forward to a prosperous future together,” said Acting Mayor Murray Giesbrecht.
With its 300-plus acres of industrial land and on-site access to rail, Phase 1 of Buffalo’s development will address industry bottlenecks affecting northeastern British Columbia.
“Phase 1 is just the beginning,” said Jarrett Zielinski, president and CEO of Buffalo. “The features on this site provide boundless opportunity to support the industrial growth forecast in the region.”
Currently, the supply chain for frac sand into northeastern BC is chaotic at best, and Phase 1 of the facility aims to meet both current and growing needs. Demand for frac sand is anticipated to increase by up to 2M metric tonnes over the next five years, to between 4M-6M metric tonnes/year. The present infrastructure is, according to Buffalo, inadequate to meet present volumes, let alone the predicted increase. For example, the nearest optimized rail infrastructure is in Grande Prairie, meaning that trucking is added to the shipping costs of the frac sand.
By redeveloping the Taylor pulp mill into a distribution hub, Buffalo will offer scale and efficiency to customers. The facility’s plans are for over 2M metric tonnes/year, and customers can be expected to offload and store an entire train within 24 hours, thanks to the existing 60,000 square-foot rail dock warehouse.
“We’re pleased that we were able to establish new uses for the former mill that optimize some of the critical features of this site to meet key infrastructure gaps, enabling Western Canada’s resource industries to keep pace with evolving global supply chain shifts,” said Robert Reimer, Buffalo’s chief financial officer.
A capital investment of $50 million coupled with the creation of approximately 100 construction and 30 permanent full-time jobs, will see this issue addressed by the second quarter of 2025.
Future phases will serve the greater needs of industry in Western Canada. Large power users can easily be accommodated by the 80MW of power available on site, and the rail dock warehouse can be used to facilitate and store industrial products such as pipes, chemicals and fluids. With tankage also available on the site, the project is set up for liquids shipments, specialty blending and dry bulk handling.