by Web Editor | Jul 20, 2016 | News
For years, it was known as the ugly duckling, cheaper alternative to plywood. One design maven described it as “like the turkey loaf of building materials.” But oriented strand board – OSB for short – has come into its own over the past 3 1/2 decades as a major player in North American wood-frame housing construction and is increasingly used for industrial and other applications.
Structural OSB panels – made of wood strands that are resin-bonded under high pressure and heat – are mostly used as floor, roofing or wall substrate in home building. They’re also getting play these days on fashionable interior-decoration websites as a “shabby-chic” finishing material.
Capitalizing on OSB’s rise like no other forest-products company is Toronto-based Norbord Inc. Norbord, once a diversified forestry company, has shed assets over the years and focused on OSB. Now boasting annual sales in the $1.5-billion (U.S.) range and a market capitalization of about $2.4-billion (Canadian), it bills itself as the world’s largest producer of OSB.
The $763-million acquisition in 2014 of Vancouver-based Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. gave Norbord – whose operations were concentrated in the U.S. southeast – a strong presence in Western Canada as well as a foothold in the promising Japanese market.
Right now, the steadily growing number of housing starts in the United States is giving Norbord a big boost, and low-key, media-shy chief executive officer Peter Wijnbergen says there are major growth opportunities in Europe and Asia.
From The Globe And Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/forest-products-firm-norbord-riding-the-rising-wave-of-osb-sales/article30985989/
by Web Editor | Mar 20, 2015 | News
Norbord And Ainsworth Lumber Provide Update On Merger And Closing
Norbord Inc. and Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. today announced that they have been informed by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice that it has closed its review of the previously announced combination of Norbord and Ainsworth. Norbord and Ainsworth expect the transaction to be completed on March 31, 2015.
On December 8, 2014, Norbord and Ainsworth announced that they had entered into an arrangement agreement under which Norbord and Ainsworth would merge to create a leading global wood products company focused on oriented strand board (OSB) across North America, Europe and Asia.
Under the terms of the transaction, Norbord will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Ainsworth in an all-share transaction. Ainsworth shareholders will receive 0.1321 of a share of Norbord for each Ainsworth share.
On January 27, 2015, the transaction was overwhelmingly approved by the shareholders of each of Norbord and Ainsworth. On January 30, 2015, the Supreme Court of British Columbia granted a final order approving the combination of Norbord and Ainsworth by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).
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by Web Editor | Mar 11, 2015 | News
The Canadian OSB manufacturer Ainsworth Lumber Co. has reported another strong growth in its overseas operations, which focus on serving Asian markets, in the 2014 financial year.
Shipments to Japan were just shy of the previous year at 224.1m sqft (3/8″ basis). Exports to other overseas markets more than tripled to 120.5m sqft. This upswing was primarily driven by the addition of China as a selling market last year.
Deliveries to the U.S. improved 10 % to 1.257bn sqft. Ainsworth reaped the rewards of the weaker Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar here. However, Ainsworth sold just 152.3m sqft in Canada. Ainsworth’s total sales thus increased 9 % to 1.755bn sqft or about 1.550m m³ last year. Production rose by a similar amount to 1.751bn sqft.
This growth was primarily fueled by Ainsworth ramping up output at its mill in High Level, Alberta, which resumed operations in the third quarter of 2013. This factor offset longer market-related downtime than the previous year at its three other facilities.
From EUWID: https://www.euwid-wood-products.com/news/roundwoodsawnwood/single/archive/2015/march/Artikel/ainsworth-shipped-more-osb-to-asia-last-year.html
