VANCOUVER: The head of West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. he expects to see some improvement in lumber and plywood prices in the coming months as a result of industry-wide curtailments, “but we aren’t expecting any material recovery.”
The Vancouver-based company, which reported a first-quarter loss that widely missed analyst expectations, said the strong Canadian dollar and downturn in the US housing market will continue to be a drag on its earnings.
“We believe there has been a meaningful reduction in lumber production in North America over the last few months,” said West Fraser chairman, president and CEO Hank Ketcham.
“These reductions typically take time to actually reduce supply to the market. But we believe there will be significantly less lumber available to the markets in the coming months.”
Ketcham said West Fraser has implemented curtailments that have removed over 800 million board feet on annualized basis.
He believes the US market will remain depressed “for the foreseeable future” due to the continued slump in the US housing market.
© 2008 The Canadian Press