Canfor Corporation reached net sales of CA$1.053 million, compared to the CA$989.9 million in the Q3 of the same year and the CA$860.4 million net sales of the Q4 in 2014. The whole year sales summed CA$3,925.3 million, up from CA$3,347.6 million of the same period in 2014.
The company reported operating income of CA$94.9 million in their Q4/2015, increasing from the CA$80.5 million earned in the Q3, but decreasing from the CA$108.9 million gained in the Q4 of 2014. The whole year operating income summed up to CA$378.2 million.
The sales grew especially due to the company's acquisition of Anthony Forest Products Company, which completed on October 30, 2015, as well as the benefits of a weaker Canadian dollar.
Lumber demand in North America remained relatively stable during the fourth quarter of 2015, with builders capitalizing on mild weather in many parts of the US and Canada. The lumber market in China improved somewhat through the fourth quarter of 2015, with inventory levels ending the year well down from the previous quarter. Lumber demand in other offshore markets, such as Japan and Korea, remained solid.
“Our lumber business continued to see solid progress at our Western Canadian and US South operations, and the integration of our most recent acquisition, Anthony Forest Products, has gone very well. In 2015 we invested over CA$500 million in our lumber, pulp and paper businesses, including CA$263 million in strategic acquisitions and $240 million in capital expenditures," said Don Kayne, Canfor's President and CEO.
Canfor's lumber production was up with about 6%, reflecting productivity improvements, particularly at the company's Western Canadian operations, additional operating days in the quarter and the addition of Anthony Forest Products, all of which more than offset the impact of the Canal Flats sawmill permanent closure in November.
Canfor's pulp shipments were up 16% from the previous quarter and the pulp production was up approximately 4%, as improved operating rates and additional operating days more than offset the impact of the Northwood pulp mill scheduled maintenance outage which reduced market pulp production by 20,000 tonnes in the current quarter (compared to 6,000 tonnes in the third quarter).
The company is projected to benefit from the weaker Canadian dollar and its recent growth in the US South. North American lumber demand is forecast to improve with steady demand in both residential construction and the repair and remodeling sectors. Offshore lumber shipments are projected to be stable with relatively steady volume forecast to both China and Japan in the first quarter of 2016.
[gravityform id="1" title="true" description="true"]
[gravityform id="2" title="true" description="true"]
