West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. reported a second quarter loss of $131 million (all dollar amounts in U.S. dollars) on sales of $1.608 billion.
“Early in the second quarter of 2023, we continued to experience challenging demand markets, particularly in the pulp & paper segment where we managed through several unscheduled downtime events at our mills, including an extended maintenance shutdown at Hinton Pulp as well as curtailment of our Cariboo Pulp mill related to fibre supply constraints,” said Ray Ferris, West Fraser’s president & CEO.
“Combined with declining pulp prices that led to a significant inventory write-down, the pulp & paper segment experienced higher losses than expected. Notwithstanding these challenges, we did see signs of demand improvement for some of our key wood building products as the quarter unfolded against a backdrop of mortgage rates well above year-ago levels,” Ferris said.
"The West Fraser team continues to manage through the market cycle and while there have been indications that the upward trend in mortgage rates may be nearing an end and that new home construction has stabilized, we will continue to operate with financial discipline, leveraging our strong balance sheet to reinvest in our operations and return capital to shareholders.
“We believe our financial flexibility remains a competitive advantage that allows us to continue our core strategy of being a low-cost producer of wood building products while also preparing us to capitalize on opportunities as the demand environment becomes more favourable in the years ahead.
