Canfor earns $60.7 million in Q2 due to improved demand and prices

Jul 24, 2020 | 5:57 AM

VANCOUVER — Canfor Corp. says its results turned positive in the second quarter on a large reversal of a writedown in its lumber operations due to improved demand and prices towards the end of the quarter.

The Vancouver-based forest products firm says it earned $60.7 million or 48 cents per share in the three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $48.8 million or 38 cents per share a year earlier.

The results included an $80.6-million recovery of previous inventory write-downs as an unexpected increase in demand in the months following a dramatic drop in U.S. housing starts in April prompted a big boost in lumber prices.

Western SPF (spruce, pine, fir) prices surged 53 per cent to US$432 per million board feet by the end of June, compared with a low of US$282 per Mfbm in April.