British Columbia’s largest softwood lumber producer Canfor Corp mitigated its losses in the first quarter following significant production curtailments.
The Vancouver-based company reported a net loss of C$58.5m, compared with net losses of C$229.8m in the preceding quarter and C$85.4m a year ago.
A further 20% reduction in US housing starts during the first quarter added further pressure on the company’s lumber business, with spruce-pine-fir (SPF) prices dropping as low as US$134 per thousand board feet before recovering towards the end of the quarter.
Canfor significantly curtailed lumber output during the quarter and is now operating at 60% of capacity. Production was down by 95 million board feet compared with the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, Canfor also announced it would restart its Mackenzie sawmill in the summer – part of the company’s aim to increase production of value-added products. The mill will produce 80 million board feet of SPF lumber annually.
