March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Weyerhaeuser Co., North America’s largest lumber producer, will close mills in Oklahoma and Oregon immediately because of weak demand from homebuilders.

Shutting lumber mills in Wright City, Oklahoma, and Dallas, Oregon, will affect 307 workers, Federal Way, Washington-based Weyerhaeuser said today in a statement.

Chief Executive Officer Daniel Fulton, 60, is firing workers and reducing lumber output to align production with sales of new U.S. homes, which slumped to a record low in January. Weyerhaeuser, which also builds homes, has closed 10 facilities this year that make lumber and other wood products.

“Demand for wood products continues to decline due to a slowdown in the housing market,” Tom Gideon, an executive vice president, said in the statement. “Extraordinarily weak market conditions in the homebuilding industry require that we take decisive action.”

Weyerhaeuser gained $1.78, or 7.1 percent, to $26.71 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares dropped 13 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Kaskey in New York at jkaskey@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 17, 2009 16:28 EDT