Alberta Forest Products Assn. members ship 730 mmbf of lumber in Q2 worth C$168.6M, volume was up 0.4% from previous-year period but value dropped 14.3%

Lorena Madrigal

EDMONTON, Alberta , September 1, 2011 (press release) – Shipments of lumber, panelboard, pulp and paper manufactured by Alberta Forest Products Association-member companies totaled approximately $550 million for the 2nd quarter of 2011. These numbers represent a significant decrease of $43 million or 7.3% from the 2nd quarter of 2010, and were down $25 million or 4.4% from the 1st quarter of 2011.

"It’s certainly not encouraging news," said AFPA President and CEO Brady Whittaker. “The lone bright spot is pulp and paper, which continues to perform relatively well. On the lumber, panel board, and secondary manufacturing sides, we have seen noticeably lower prices. Still, we are confident that the investments we are making in our facilities to make them more efficient and environmentally friendly will continue to pay dividends.”

AFPA members continue to look for creative solutions to challenges caused by a depressed building market in the United States, a strong Canadian dollar, and the mountain pine beetle. These issues will be discussed when industry and government come together at the 69th Annual Alberta Forest Products Association Annual General Meeting and Conference, September 28-30 in Jasper. More information can be found at albertaforestproducts.ca.

The Alberta Forest Products Association is a private, non-profit industry organization, representing lumber, panelboard, pulp and paper, and secondary manufacturing wood products companies operating in Alberta. AFPA member companies are active participants in sustainability advancements that contribute economic, environmental and social benefits to Albertans.

Sector Analysis

LUMBER – AFPA-member companies shipped 730 million board feet (mmfbm) between April and June 2011 with a value of $168.6 million. Part of this production came from the secondary manufacturing sector. Total shipments were up 3.2 mmfbm or 0.4% from Q2-2010, but weaker prices caused values to slip $28.1 million or 14.3%. Compared to Q1-2011, shipments were up by 73.5 mmfbm (11.2%), but values decreased by $23.6 million (12.3%).

PANELBOARD – AFPA-member panelboard operators produced 302.5 million square feet of 7/16 inch equivalent product in Q2-2011 valued at $68.6 million. Production was up 7.8 million square feet (2.7%), but value decreased $26.9 million (28.2%) compared to Q2-2010. When looking at Q2-2011 versus Q1-2011, production was up 17.4 million square feet (6.1%) and value declined $0.9 million (1.3%).

PULP & PAPER – The AFPA’s pulp and paper sector total production in the second quarter of 2011 was 377,000 air dried metric tonnes (ADMT) valued at $313.6 million. Production was up 24,500 ADMT (6.9%) from Q2-2010 and values increased $11.7 million (3.9%). Compared to Q1-2011, production was down 2,300 ADMT or 0.6%, and values decreased $0.7 million or 0.2%.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.