Profits at Canadian lumber giant International Forest Products Ltd (Interfor) are on the up thanks to the acquisition of Primex Forest Products and improvements in cost efficiencies.
The company’s net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2002 were C$14.8m, compared to a C$1.2m net loss for the same period in 2001. It also turned 2001’s full year C$25.9m net loss into a C$40m net profit last year.
Interfor’s results were improved by a shift in volume away from the US market, where duties on Canadian softwood imports are biting deep. Last year it paid out C$24.5m in duties.
The company’s high-value cedar business is being hit hardest by the duties, with C$7.7m levied in the fourth quarter alone. It wants to see duties on cedar reviewed before permanent damage is done to the species’ market position.
