Forest Products Industry

Portugal-based panel producer Sonae Industria reduced its net losses in the first quarter to €3m (2011 Q1: €21m loss).

Forestry Commission Scotland has unveiled changes designed to encourage more planting of productive conifer forests.

A fire broke out around 4am on Saturday at the Absolute Lumber Products mill in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

When firefighters arrived on scene, the flames were shooting into the air, and the smoke was so thick it was setting off smoke alarms in apartment buildings several kilometres away.

The firefighters were able to get the fire under control in 45 minutes, and spent many hours on Saturday attacking hot spots.

Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Adams said, “The building itself is probably a writeoff. The actual equipment that they use for doing the millwork is on the outside. We were able to save that. Where they stored their forklifts and office supplies, that’s where the fire was.”

The lumber mill produced over 75,000 boardfeet of pallet cutstock in a day, and employed 12.

It is not yet known what caused the fire.

Read more:
Another B.C. lumber mill engulfed in flames (CTV)
Another mill in B.C. razed by fire (Toronto Sun)
Massive blaze destroys Abbotsford mill (Abbotsford News)
Absolute Lumber Products (Company Website)

Massive fire destroys Absolute Lumber Products lumber mill in Abbotsford, B.C. is a post from: ForestTalk.com

International hardwood and panels distributor DLH saw its first quarter operating profit fall to DKr2m from DKr14m a year ago.

TORONTO, May 18, 2012 /CNW/ - About 600 employees who provide telephone and television service and installation for residential and commercial customers of Rogers across Ontario, are set to strike June 15th, at

One of the four pension plan groups at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper voted against giving Kruger 10 years, instead of 5, to repay the shortfall in their pension plans.

Results of the vote:

-Pension Plan for Unionized Employees:
-Active members (326): ……………177 objections ……….54.3%
-Retired members (617): …………. 31 objections …………. 5.0%

-Pension Plan for Non-Unionized Employees:
-Active members (78): ………………6 objections ………….7.7%
-Retired members (218): …………..7 objections …………..3.2%

Under Newfoundland and Labrador legislation, in order for the relief measures to be applied, they cannot be opposed by more than one-third of members in each group (active and retirees). Consequently, with 54.3% of active unionized employees opposing the proposal, the relief measures cannot be applied to the unionized employees’ pension plan.

Kruger now plans to reassess the viability of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s operations. The pension relief measures were a crucial element in the Kruger’s strategy for the mill to improve its competitiveness and secure its future.

Kruger said the Kruger Company has gone to extraordinary lengths to support its Corner Brook operation in a very challenging market afflicted by declining demand for newsprint, increasing energy costs and the negative effects of a strong Canadian currency on exports.

In addition to these challenges, the Corner Brook Mill has to contend with other Canadian paper mills that have competitive operating costs and benefit from the additional advantage of funding relief measures for their own pension plan deficits.

Kruger said is disappointed with this outcome, especially considering the countless efforts that were put in over the last few weeks to communicate with plan members to seek their support.

Source: Kruger

Kruger to reassess viability of Corner Brook operation after vote doesn’t go their way is a post from: ForestTalk.com

Pension plan funding relief measures rejected by active unionized employees

Resolute Forest Products now owns 74.56% of Fibrek. Resolute’s offer for Fibrek closed at 5pm today.

As aggregate consideration for the shares taken up today, Resolute will distribute approximately 135,000 newly-issued shares of its common stock and CAD$2.6 million in cash through RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Resolute is planning to carry out a second step transaction to acquire the Fibrek shares not deposited in the offer.  The second step transaction will first have to be approved by Fibrek’s shareholders.

Source: Resolute Forest Products

Resolute now owns 74.56% of Fibrek is a post from: ForestTalk.com

Metsä Wood is considering a €30m upgrade at the Vilppula sawmill.

Moves to alter the US Lacey Act, which was amended in 2008 to regulate timber and wood product imports, have been debated in the House of Representatives’ natural resources committee.

Last year’s buoyant home-grown sawn timber market has been confirmed in new Forestry Commission statistics which show a 6% rise in domestic sawn timber production and 4.5% growth in the...

MONTREAL, May 17, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: ABH) (TSX: ABH), today announced that it has taken up and accepted for payment 4,762,192

www.fpinnovations.ca

OTTAWA, May 17, 2012 /CNW/ - The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is today unveiling a new industry-led vision that outlines where the forest industry sees itself by the year 2020.  Through its

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS HIGHLIGHTED IN 2011 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT MEMPHIS, Tenn. - May 16, 2012 - International Paper released its 2011 Sustainability Report that showcases the company's new suite of 12 voluntary sustainability goals. The company expects to reach a number of goals by

British Columbia’s Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson applauded today’s decision of the Legislative Assembly to form a Special Committee on Timber Supply to examine and make recommendations about mid-term timber supply in British Columbia, as a result of the mountain pine beetle infestation.

The committee will be conducting public consultations and has been asked to deliver a report by Aug. 15 this year.

The committee’s terms of reference are to specifically consider recommendations that could increase timber supply, including direction on the potential scope of changes to land-use objectives, rate of harvest and conversion of volume-based tenures to area-based tenures. The committee will also consider whether any changes to legislation are required.

In making its recommendations, the committee will need to consider the Province’s commitment to balance the budget and maintain competitive electricity rates; the need to maintain high environmental standards and protect critical wildlife habitat; orderly transition for communities to lower harvest levels; maintain a competitive forest industry; First Nations’ titles and rights; and the softwood lumber agreement and other trade agreements.

The committee is expected to hold its first meeting this week to elect its chair, develop a work plan and a schedule for public consultations.

The members of the Special Committee on Timber Supply are:

•  John Rustad, MLA Nechako Lakes (convenor)
•  Donna Barnett, MLA Cariboo-Chilcotin
•  Eric Foster, MLA Vernon-Monashee
•  Ben Stewart, MLA Westside-Kelowna
•  Harry Bains, MLA Surrey-Newton
•  Norm Macdonald, MLA Columbia River-Revelstoke
•  Bill Routley, MLA Cowichan Valley

The committee will be supported by a technical advisory committee that will include former provincial chief foresters Larry Pedersen and Jim Snetsinger.

Source: Province of British Columbia

New committee formed in British Columbia to examine mid-term timber supply is a post from: ForestTalk.com

Newfoundland and Labrador‘s Minister of Natural Resources, Jerome Kennedy, is confirming that a company is interested in purchasing the old AbitibiBowater mill in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Kennedy would not specify who the company was, or where they were from, but he did say that the company is interested in acquiring part of the property to produce wood pellets for home heating.

The Grand Falls-Windsor mill has been closed for 3 years. The province assumed custody and management of the mill after expropriating the timber and water assets from AbitibiBowater.

This is not the first time a company has been interested in the mill. In 2010, Lott Paper from Germany was interested in the mill, but the plan fell apart when Lott Paper declared bankruptcy just days later.

The environmental cleanup of the site has yet to be carried out. The cleanup is estimated to cost more than $100 million. The Supreme Court of Canada will be deciding if the provincial government will be responsible for paying for the cleanup, or if AbitibiBowater will be on the hook for the costs.

Premier Kathy Dunderdale has said a future operator of the mill shouldn’t have to pay for the environmental cleanup. She told the legislature that “the business case, what we are trying to do is encourage another use for that facility in Grand Falls, something hopefully to do with the forestry industry. We are going to make that as attractive as we can based on a cost-benefit analysis to the people, particularly of the central part of the province. At the end of the day we are left with the responsibility, unless the Supreme Court of Canada rules something different, and the site will be cleaned up eventually.”

Source:
Company eyeing former mill site in Grand Falls-Windsor (CBC)

Company interested in producing wood pellets at the old Grand Falls-Windsor mill is a post from: ForestTalk.com

Recently, the most common question ForestTalk is asked is, “Whatever happened to that Boreal Forest Agreement?”, and “Have you heard anything about that Boreal Forest Agreement lately?”

To refresh our memories, the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement was signed 2 years ago.  21 forest companies, all members of the Forest Products Association of Canada, and 9 environmental organizations signed the agreement.  Through the agreement, the forest companies committed to the highest environmental standards of forest management and conservation, while environmental organizations commit to global recognition and support for the forest companies efforts.

Last year, in April 2011, the signatories of the agreement unveiled a Boreal Business Forum that would be a roundtable for the participants of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, as well as leading corporations and investors that have a strong interest in conserving the boreal forest.

The leading corporations included Axel Springer, Batirente, The Globe and Mail, Hearst Corporation, Indigo Books & Music, Kimberly-Clark, Limited Brands, Lowes, Office Depot, RONA, SHARE, Staples, Time Inc. and VDZ.

Today, the Vice President of Finance for one of these leading corporations dropped ForestTalk an email to ask if the Boreal Business Forum was still active and if any upcoming meetings were scheduled.

Was the historic agreement nothing but a media show?  A feel good, publicity stunt?  Smoke and mirrors?

This week, 3 of the environmental groups who signed the agreement – Canopy, ForestEthics, and Greenpeace – released a joint status report to reveal the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement has yet to deliver many results.  They indicate that the agreement was broken down into 75 milestones, each with a specific timeline attached.  58 of those milestones are unfilled, and only 10 were delivered on time.

Mark Hubert, vice president of environmental leadership at the Forest Products Association of Canada, said ”It’s a complex agreement but we’re making progress. Do we wish we were moving faster? Absolutely, but . . . there’s an extraordinary amount of work going on by both parties to make sure that we get to the finish line, so to speak.”

Janet Sumner, executive director of conservation group Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and a member of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement steering committee, said she doesn’t share the assessment of Canopy, ForestEthics, and Greenpeace.  “We’re at the penultimate moment in planning in several regions of the country.” Sumner said they are just weeks away from producing agreements that will protect forests and caribou lands in Quebec’s Lac St-Jean region and northwestern Ontario. Those agreements would then be passed to first nations groups and governments for their input.

So what do you think?
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Read more including media coverage of the status of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement:
Environmental groups decry slow pace of boreal forest protection (The Globe and Mail)
Forest industry says boreal protection goals still on radar (Edmonton Journal)
Environmental groups split over slow pace of forest deal (Canadian Business)
Boreal forest agreement bogged down, environmentalists say (The Star)
Status report reveals lack of results on 2nd anniversary of world’s largest conservation initiative (Canopy & ForestEthics & Greenpeace)

The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement … what was that again? is a post from: ForestTalk.com

Kruger sent a letter to its employees recently to say the company has been falsely accused of holding back information regarding the pension formula.

On Monday, the CEP held a pair of emergency union meetings in Corner Brook to discuss the alleged discovery that the negotiated proposal to grant the company a 5 year extension to make up for a deficit in pension plans would change the benefit formula.

Bruce Randell, president of CEP Local 242, said the reduction in pensions of current employees could be as much as 25% in 2014.

The deadline to approve the funding relief measures is Thursday.

The letter, signed by Daniel Archambault, chief operating officer of the Industrial Products Division of Kruger Inc., said “the company never had any intention to renege on its 2005 commitment and it is appalling to hear such declarations after we have helped the mill survive the recent recession and worked relentlessly with the unions to find solutions to secure the Corner Brook operation for the long term.”

Read more from The Western Star: Kruger says it was falsely accused by unions

Kruger denies hiding information about its pension formula is a post from: ForestTalk.com