Weyerhaeuser Posts Growth From Wood Products

Weyerhaeuser has announced that its Wood Products division ended the fourth quarter of 2017 with much better revenues and earnings than one year earlier. Average sales prices had increased in all product segments, with the highest growth rate of almost a third reported for OSB. Sales volumes, which include amounts purchased through the Distribution division, improved for the most part. Softwood plywood (-15.9%) and MDF (-22.4%) were the only products to see lower sales. The division’s consolidated revenues thus rose 19.0% to US$1.228bn.

EBITDA adjusted for extraordinary items from OSB activities leapt to US$104m. The division as a whole saw its EBITDA adjusted for extraordinary items almost double to US$258m. As in the two previous quarters, operating income was hit by high costs for the remediation of defective I-joists and ended up at US$180m. The company created reserves of US$50m to resolve this issue in the fourth quarter. These reserves now add up to US$290m. Weyerhaeuser reported that remediation work had been completed in 99% of affected new buildings by the end of January.

From EUWID: https://www.euwid-wood-products.com/news/miscellaneous/single/Artikel/weyerhaeuser-posts-growth-from-wood-products.html

Weyerhaeuser Explores Sale Of South American Timberland, Operations

Real estate investment trust Weyerhaeuser Co. said on Wednesday it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, for its timberlands and manufacturing operations in Uruguay.

The Uruguay operations include more than 300,000 acres of timberlands in northeastern and north central Uruguay, a plywood and veneer manufacturing facility, a cogeneration facility and a seedling nursery, the company said.

“This is a strategic revision with various possibilities: one is a sale but another is maintaining operations just as they are today,” the company’s South America Director Alvaro Molinari told Reuters.

Weyerhaeuser has been restructuring its business since it bought Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc in February, combining the two largest owners of timberland in the United States. Since then, Weyerhaeuser has said it would sell its pulp business to International Paper Co. for $2.2 billion and its liquid packaging unit to Nippon Paper Industries Co. Ltd for about $285 million.

Weyerhaeuser said this month it would sell its North Pacific paper unit to private company One Rock Capital Partners LLC.

From Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/weyerhaeuser-divestiture-idUSL4N1CI4DI

Log Shortage Blamed For Weyerhaeuser Plywood Mill Shut Down

Weyerhaeuser plans to permanently close its lumber mill and plywood mill in Columbia Falls, Montana, by the end of the summer. It will also close its Columbia Falls, Montana, main office.

Weyerhaeuser will continue to operate its three other mills in Montana: a lumber mill in Kalispell, a plywood mill in Kalispell, and a medium-density fiberboard mill in Columbia Falls.

“For some time now our operations in Montana have been running below capacity as a result of an ongoing shortage of logs in the region,” said Doyle R. Simons, president and chief executive officer. “These closures will allow us to align the available log supply with our manufacturing capacity, including adding shifts at our Kalispell facilities. These moves will improve the operating performance of our remaining mills and best position these mills for long-term success.”

Some 100 jobs will be eliminated as a result of the mill closures, now planned for late August or early September.

The mill closures follow a decision earlier this year to move corporate positions that do not support manufacturing in Montana to Weyerhaeuser’s Seattle headquarters. As a result, the company also plans to close its main office in Columbia Falls at the end of the year.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/log-shortage-blamed-weyerhaeuser-plywood-mill-shut-down?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news