Norbord Temporarily Idles Alabama OSB Mill


Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 04 December 2007 – Norbord Inc. (TSX:NBD) announced today it will suspend operations at its OSB mill in Huguley, Alabama, USA, for approximately four weeks due to poor market conditions.

The downtime is scheduled to begin on 10 December 2007. Approximately 90 people will be temporarily laid off as a result of this action.

“The prolonged weakness in the North American OSB market has made this difficult action necessary,” said Barrie Shineton, Norbord president and CEO. “The Southeast region has been particularly hard hit by the drop in U.S. housing starts and is currently over supplied.”

Built by Norbord in 2001, annual production capacity at the mill is 500 MMsf (3/8 inch).

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