Norbord Announces Maintenance Downtime


Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 24 January 2008 -– Norbord Inc. (TSX:NBD) announced today it will suspend operations for four weeks to conduct planned maintenance on its OSB press line at Joanna, South Carolina. This maintenance work is scheduled to begin on 04 February 2008.

Previously, Norbord announced that a six to eight week curtailment will be taken at its Guntown, Mississippi, OSB mill during the first quarter of 2008 to rebuild its press. This project is expected to begin in March 2008.

“We are taking a low-cost approach to managing our routine and essential maintenance by extending project timeframes to allow for most of the work to be done by our own employees,” said Barrie Shineton, Norbord’s president and CEO. “We believe this is the best time to do the work that will optimize our assets so they are running at peak performance when markets eventually recover.”

Norbord also confirmed that there would be minimal disruption to customers during the maintenance projects. “We will leverage our mills in the region to ensure customers continue to receive a high level of service,” Shineton said.

Annual production capacity is 500 million square feet (MMsf at 3/8-inch) at Joanna and 430 MMsf (3/8-inch) at Guntown.

Norbord Inc. is an international producer of wood-based panels and is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX under the symbol NBD.