5/25/2007
Lumber Prices Continue to be Soft
In an article titled "Softwood surplus dampens prices"
by T. Stone of the New Hampshire Business Review the state of
lumber pricing was described as follows:
"A natural disaster in the forests of western Canada coupled
with softening demand for new homes in New Hampshire has placed
the state’s timber industry at the center of a perfect
storm of falling prices, according to one state timber expert.
According to J. Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire
Timberland Owners Association, excessive beetle kills in the
softwood species of western Canada have ignited a large-scale
timber salvage in that region – and the results are now
being felt in New Hampshire’s timber market.
“Canadian officials want this wood off the stands because
of the wildfire danger it poses,” Stock said.
The harvested timber is finding its way to the lumberyards
of New Hampshire, Maine and eastern Canada forcing down prices
for softwoods – spruce, pine and fir, or SPF.
In addition, imported lumber from places like South America
and Australia also are taking a bite out of the U.S. market,
Stock said.
All this comes at a time when fewer homes are being built in
the state, leaving more of the softwood on the shelves of local
lumberyards."
5/11/2007
Most companies in this industry are feeling the pain of low lumber
prices. However, lumber lumber duty refunds for Canadian companies
are helping to soften the impact. The CBC News reports, "B.C.
lumber and paper producers have been hit by two bad years, but
the softwood duty refunds have helped producers weather a downturn
that has seen lumber prices hit their lowest levels in 25 years,
a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report says. And with the return
of US$2.5 billion in countervailing duties to the B.C. companies,
the Canadian firms could be in a position to make acquisitions,
said Craig Campbell, leader of PwC's performance improvement practice
for the global forest and paper industry."
The low prices have some analysts predicting an increased wave
of merger and acquisition activity.
5/4/2007
Some Earnings - Good & Bad
Weyerhaeuser Co., one of the world's largest lumber and paper producers, said Friday it rebounded to a profit in the first quarter. The profit was mostly from gains from its move last year to combine the company's fine paper business with Montreal-based paper maker Domtar Inc. According to the Toronto Star. "VANCOUVER – Canfor Corp. (TSX: CFP) shareholders voted to reject a proposed shareholder rights plan at the company's annual meeting Friday as the forestry products firm reported a $42.7-million first-quarter loss on a sharp decline in lumber and OSB markets. Vancouver-based Canfor said the loss amounted to 30 cents per share diluted and compared with a profit of $18.9 million, 13 cents per share, in the same period of 2006. Sales fell to $892 million from $962.7 million in the prior-year period."
5/3/2007
Beetle wood not hurting pulp quality
Canfor Pulp Income Fund officials assured analysts on Wednesday that wood chips from mountain pine beetle-killed timber are not affecting the quality of their product, or the cost to produce it."We have not seen any change in quality, or anything related to the mountain pine beetle ... And in particular, our customers are not seeing a change in quality, and that's really the most important thing to us," Canfor Pulp president and CEO Richards explained in a conference call to discuss the company's $48.6-million profit.
For Current News, Ads and Deals, Visit: sticktrade.com
