The recovery of C$9.8m in provisional lumber duties helped International Forest Products Ltd (Interfor) achieve improved earnings in the second quarter of 2002.
Provisional countervailing and anti-dumping duties were set aside by all Canadian producers prior to a permanent ruling on the taxes in May, when the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said the monies should be returned.
Interfor recorded net earnings of C$14.1m on sales of C$197.5m. Permanent duties on shipments entering the US after May 22 cost the company C$3.7m.
Lumber production increased to 186 million board feet from 168 million board feet in the same period of 2001. Log production increased to 981,000m3 from 805,000m3 over the same period.
A programme initiated by the company’s Coastal Woodlands group in late 2001 to restructure logging operations, streamline administration and improve productivity resulted in the lowest cash logging costs achieved by Interfor in any quarter since the mid-1990s.
However, despite these factors and the strength of the US housing market, Interfor is concerned about the overall performance of the US economy.
