B.C Lumber producers hit by poor weather and trucking dispute, says PwC

VANCOUVER (Scrap Monster): The poor weather conditions and the Port Metro Vancouver truck drivers’ strike have badly affected the performance of B.C Lumber firms so far this year, says PwC in its latest report. The pace of recovery of many B.C lumber producers is overly dependent on US housing starts numbers, it added.

The prolonged strike by container truck driver which lasted for 28 days left huge volumes of cargo stranded at Vancouver area port terminals. The poor weather conditions too badly affected the truck shipments.

According to PwC, the aggregate net profits for Western Canadian Lumber firms that have declared their first quarter results have dropped by 14% upon comparison with the same quarter during 2013. The two prominent lumber producers-Canfor and West Fraser Timber had reported lower revenues this year. Canfor’s net profit declined to $45 million during the quarter as compared with the net profit of $62 million during the corresponding quarter in 2013. The revenues of West Timer fell to $809 million during Q1 2014 compared with $863 million a year ago.

On the other hand, the nine American firms covered by PwC survey have reported 19% rise in aggregate net profits during Q1 this year. This is in contradiction to Q1 2013, where Canadian firms recorded stronger quarterly numbers in 2013.