It’s been a bumpy start to the year for Canfor.
During its first-quarter report, the company posted a loss of $142 million.
It’s mainly due to its lumber operations across Western Canada facing lower prices.
That’s a stark contrast to the $534 million profit that was posted a year earlier.
Chief Executive Don Kayne issued the following statement in a media release.
“Strong earnings from our European operations and more modest earnings from our US South operations were overshadowed by ongoing weakness in Western Spruce/Pine/Fir lumber pricing, which resulted in further temporary capacity reductions across our Western Canadian sawmills.”
“In addition, we announced and began implementing a restructuring of our British Columbian lumber operations to better align manufacturing capacity with the available long-term fibre supply. Despite improved earnings, this was also a difficult quarter for our pulp business, driven by the wind-down of the pulp line at the Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill. While these restructuring decisions for both our lumber and pulp business will create a more sustainable operating footprint for Canfor going forward, we sincerely regret the impact on our employees, their families, contractors, and our local communities.”
The company expects results in the second quarter of this year will reflect the impact on pulp production and shipments of the closure of pulp line at the PG Pulp and Paper mill.
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