The Latrobe Valley has been left devastated by news that a Morwell sawmill which employs 160 people is "very likely" to close because of a timber shortage.
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Sawmill owner Carter Holt Harvey announced on Tuesday that it was consulting with staff about the possible closure of its mill.
It blames the loss of significant areas of plantation timber to bushfires in 2014 and in the Black Saturday fires of 2009.
Geoff Harris, chief executive of Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia, said the mill faced a significantly reduced supply and quality of sawlogs.
"Bushfires have left our supplier unable to supply the volume of sawlogs or the quality necessary to sustain the Morwell sawmill," Mr Harris said in a written statement.
According to figures released by Carter Holt Harvey, bushfires since 2003 have burnt 15 per cent of the pine plantation estate grown by its pine sawlog supplier, Hancock Victorian Plantations.
"Without the sufficient volume of sawlogs and because the Morwell sawmill is dedicated to producing structural grade timber for housing, the sawmill is not viable into the future," the company said.
Unions said the mill could be closed in August or September.
Mr Harris later told The Age that while "a final decision has not been made, the closure of the mill is very likely, given that we've been told that we're not going to have suitable logs to continue to run the mill".
The announcement is more bad economic news for the Latrobe Valley, coming hot on the heels of the closure of the Hazelwood power station and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
It also comes amidst the continuing uncertainty over the future of the Heyfield sawmill, and the protracted dispute between the Heyfield mill's owners and the state government.
After hearing the news of the closure, sawmill employee Julie Smith questioned where work would come from in the future.
"I'm a single parent, where am I going to get a job? Where's any of us going to get a job?" Ms Smith said.
"We're all competing against one another, we're competing against Hazelwood."
Her sentiment was echoed by another worker, Chris Jackson, who said he was contemplating leaving the area.
"I'd love to stay here but the way things are, you just can't," Mr Jackson said.
"You have to work wherever you can.
"I'm going to have to look for work, I'll do anything, but I don't think there's any work around here."
Carter Holt Harvey, which is owned by reclusive New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart, was blasted by unions.
"What you've got is a very profitable company, running a very productive mill, owned by the richest man in New Zealand - and they drop this on the workers with barely three-months notice. It's a shocker," said ETU Victorian secretary Troy Gray.
Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford said the state government was "deeply disappointed" about the closure.
"The Government has been told the closure is unavoidable given poor sawlog quality and a lack of volume available from the privately-owned softwood plantations which supply Carter Holt Harvey," she said.
Latrobe City Mayor Kellie O'Callaghan said the announcement was devastating news for a community that was "still reeling from the 750 job losses brought about by the closure of the Hazelwood Power Station".
