by Jacqlyn Kirkland | Dec 10, 2020 | News
West Fraser Purchases Norbord For $3 Billion
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is acquiring all of the outstanding common shares of Norbord, the world’s largest oriented strandboard producer, for $3.1 billion. Following closing, the combined company will operate as West Fraser.
“Norbord’s OSB production is a perfect complement to the West Fraser portfolio, enabling us to deliver a wider range of wood products, and making us a more complete, efficient and valuable partner for our customers,” says Raymond Ferris, President and CEO of West Fraser.
Norbord operates 17 plant locations in the U.S., Europe and Canada, encompassing 15 OSB mills, one MDF plant, two particleboard facilities and a furniture plant.
West Fraser operates 34 sawmills in British Columbia, Alberta and the Southern U.S., as well as three plywood operations and two MDF facilities in Western Canada.
West Fraser will continue to be led by Ferris as CEO and Chris Virostek as CFO. Peter Wijnbergen, President and CEO of Norbord, will be appointed President, Engineered Wood, responsible for the company’s OSB, plywood, particleboard, MDF and veneer operations. Sean McLaren, currently West Fraser’s Vice-President, U.S. Lumber, will be appointed President, Solid Wood, responsible for all of the company’s lumber operations.
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by Web Editor | Feb 7, 2018 | News
Panel producer Norbord has posted record earnings in 2017 for its worldwide business. The company also achieved record production at nine of its 15 mills, while the Inverness OSB expansion project was also completed.
Peter Wijnbergen, Norbord’s president and CEO, described 2017 as an outstanding year, with record adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$672m. “US housing starts continued to improve, led by stronger growth in the single-family segment, driving increased North American OSB demand and prices,” he said. “Our European business had another solid year due to record sales volumes and improved prices for all our panel products across our key markets.”
He highlighted “great momentum” moving into 2018, with demand in all its core markets remaining strong.
“Meanwhile, our European business is poised for improved earnings next year as OSB substitution for plywood drives accelerated demand growth in our core UK and German markets.”
In Europe, shipments increased 5% over the prior year, with its mills running at 99% of capacity in 2017. In local currency terms, full-year average panel prices improved 11% from 2016.
From Timber Trades Journal: https://www.ttjonline.com/news/strong-panels-markets-boost-norbord-earnings-6046604/
by Web Editor | Sep 6, 2017 | News
Norbord is buying up wood burned by the Gustafsen wildfire. A local logging contractor, Rod Dillman, is the first to begin harvesting in the Gustafsen fire area, says Mike Kennedy, Woodlands Manager with Norbord in an email. He adds that there are some unique challenges logging burned wood.
“According to Rod, a primary challenge in logging the burned wood is the increased maintenance needed on his machines. There is a lot of ash dust which, even more than ‘normal’ dirt, tends to stick to surfaces and must be washed off rather than just wiped. It also makes it necessary to change air filters more frequently. Finally, carbon in the ash is hard on the knives used in the harvesting equipment. Rod also states that they are learning as they go, as this is the first time he has operated in such a large area of scorched timber.”
Kennedy says that luckily there are a few things that have moderated the effect of the fires on the trees, meaning most of the wood is still intact underneath the bark. “Certain species, for example, Douglas-fir with its thick bark, have evolved to withstand the effects of fire, which is a common natural event in the areas where it grows. Fire intensity was not uniform across the landscape, so in many places, trees were scorched on the bark only with minimal damage to the underlying wood. Entire trees are not necessarily affected, with more damage occurring in the bottom portion. It is often possible to buck this out with log processors at the roadside. Processing pressure can be increased to remove most of the severely burned bark or wood.”
They take pride in their adaptability to make the most of the fiber available and are very experienced using dry pine beetle killed wood, he says. “Norbord maintains the highest quality standards for our products and these standards are ensured through third-party certification by APA – The Engineered Wood Association. We have been able to use burned wood in the past.”
From 100 Mile Free Press: https://www.100milefreepress.net/news/norbord-starts-logging-burned-wood/
by Web Editor | Nov 2, 2016 | News
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) recently announced that it has reached an agreement with Norbord Inc. to exchange OSB mills in Quebec, Canada. LP will swap ownership of its Chambord, Quebec, mill for Norbord’s Val-d’Or, Quebec, mill. The asset exchange is expected to be complete in early November 2016.
This transaction, along with the recent acquisition of a former OSB site in Cook, Minnesota, is part of LP’s strategy to increase siding capacity, an area of the business that has delivered consistent sales growth over the past decade.
“The Canadian mill exchange, coupled with the recent Minnesota acquisition, provides us flexibility and increases our ability to optimize our capacity for sustained business growth,” LP Chief Executive Officer Curt Stevens said.
“We have seen tremendous growth in our siding business and anticipate this growth to continue as we look to meet increasing demand,” he said. “The aim of these transactions is to provide additional siding capacity by the end of 2018.”
LP’s immediate priority will be to conduct a detailed evaluation of the Cook site and Val-d’Or mill. The assessment will determine the operational feasibility, including access to timely and adequate wood supply, the work required to convert the sites into fully operational siding mills, as well as conversion costs and annual operating expenses.
From LP Corp.: https://investors.lpcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73030&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2217033
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/
