Canfor, Resolute and International Paper report strong Q1, 2021 results, reflecting record lumber prices and improved pulp & paper markets. In other Business news: GreenFirst reports year-end 2020 loss; Resolute and FPInnovations win award for biomass innovation; and the US Federal Reserve is watching US housing carefully, as its share of GDP rises, and lumber costs add to new home prices.
In other news: Kruger commits to reducing plastic in its packaging products; plastic waste pollution is called out, and analysts forecast growth in the containerboard industry. Elsewhere, an update on forest certification in Canada; perspectives on BC’s Fairy Creek blockade, and related old-growth hype; and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology use of 360-degree imagery for training in remote communities.
Finally, National Post columnist de Souza has a beef with Harvey’s Earth Day commitment.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
VANCOUVER — Canfor Corp. reported a first-quarter profit of $427.8 million compared with a loss a year ago, boosted by record results in its lumber business and improved results in its pulp and paper operations. The Vancouver-based company says the strength in global lumber market fundamentals has pushed benchmark lumber prices to new highs. It says the unprecedented pricing substantially outweighed higher market-related log costs in Western Canada, combined with moderately lower North American shipment volumes. Canfor says its profit amounted to $3.42 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of $70.0 million or 56 cents per share in the same quarter last year. Sales totalled $1.94 billion, up from $1.17 billion in the first three months of 2020.
The perfect COVID-19 storm is brewing, driving up the price of mainstay construction materials by up to 300 per cent with no real end in sight. The pandemic is being blamed for much of the supply chain and delivery problems while demand is being driven by home-bound individuals spending vacation dollars on home construction over-heating the low-interest general construction market in both the U.S. and Canada. …Canada is seeing all-time price records for lumber. “As of April 20, we have an all-time record high benchmark in Western spruce-pine-fir lumber of $1,285 per thousand board feet and this more than three times the 20-year average,” said Forest Products Association of Canada vice-president of international trade Joel Neuheimer. …Cedar product used in landscaping and decking also jumped. Cedarline Industries said the company has seen a 70 per cent increase in pricing as is reflected by the scarcity of needed fibre from primary break-down mills.
VANCOUVER, BC – Canfor Pulp reported operating income of $4.9 million for the first quarter of 2021, an improvement of $33.2 million from the reported operating loss of $28.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting improving global pulp market conditions, combined with a 25% increase in pulp production quarter-over-quarter. During the first quarter of 2021, global pulp markets experienced a surge in US-dollar list prices in response to an uptick in demand, particularly from China, combined with ongoing global logistic constraints and supported by strong price increases on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. …Commenting on the Company’s first quarter’s results, CPPI’s CEO, Don Kayne, said, “With the Northwood pulp mill recovering well after its RB5 capital-upgrade, we are focused on fully capitalizing on the current strong pulp market conditions.”
The logging protesters say Fairy Creek is the last stand of coastal old growth. Not true! Old growth has been preserved in many areas, including south Moresby Island, Clayoquot Sound, Nitinat-Hitchie Creek, Toitika River, Schoen Lake, Tsitika River, Schmidt Creek, Strathcona, Carmanah, Walbran and Khutzeymatteen valleys (reference: Sierra Club in B.C). Huge old growth stands are found in the protected Great Bear Rainforest covering 2.1 million hectares (27 times the size of the Capital Regional District). When will attacks on the working forest stop? What will be the next blockade after Fairy Creek? COVID has devastated the Canadian economy and cut service industry jobs. Resource industries are the one bright spot, providing good paying jobs and sorely needed tax revenue.
…For Earth Day, Harvey’s hamburger chain advised that … it would divert a portion of its revenues to tree planting. …Such posing one expects from governments. But a burger chain in the role of climate poseur? Harvey’s Earth Day promotion is to collaborate with Tree Canada to plant 25,000 trees. …Last December, the federal government announced its own initiative to plant two billion trees over the next 10 years… Harvey’s contribution this year will increase that by 0.0125 per cent… So how piddling, exactly, is the part that Harvey’s has decided to play? …Harvey’s big commitment is something on the order of a fortnight of tree planting by a single tree planter. …at the going rate of 15¢/tree for prepared land, the labour cost of the planting amounts to $3,750, or fewer than 450 single burger combo meals. …The planting is not the point; it’s the posing. …25,000 is big number, it sounds impressive. But it’s not. Not even close.
British Columbia is effectively managing highway avalanche risks, says a report by the province’s auditor general that examined two decades of data. Michael Pickup said Tuesday an audit by his office found avalanche deaths on B.C. highways are rare and road closures are declining, but improvements can still be made. …Pickup told a news conference there haven’t been any avalanche-related deaths on provincial highways in the last 20 years. “And over the same time frame we have seen a decrease in both the frequency and duration of closures due to avalanches.” …The audit also found the ministry provides timely avalanche forecasts to highway users, maintenance contractors and emergency services. It recommended that the ministry update the 1,600 avalanche paths it has mapped to reflect changes from a variety of factors, including vegetation growth, fires and logging activity.