Content about British Columbia

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has entered into an agreement with Canfor Corp. to acquire Canfor’s 50% share in the Peace Valley Oriented Strand Board (OSB) joint venture in Fort St. John, British Columbia. By completing this acquisition, LP will become the sole owner of the Peace Valley OSB mill.

Weiser, a home security products manufacturer, drove its 56-ft. demonstration trailer into Montreal this month as part of its summer-long tour of Canadian home-improvement stores, according to an article in the Montreal Gazette. 

According to an article in The Globe and Mail, sales of British Columbia lumber to China have declined dramatically -- a major reversal from the strong sales of 2011. 

Analysts continue to expect more growth in 2012, but Statistics Canada estimated a mere $67 million in B.C.-to-China lumber sales in December, down 36% from the same month in the previous year.

Building permits in Canada decreased 4.9% in September 2011 compared with August, marking the third consecutive monthly decline, according to Statistics Canada, the government’s national database. Permit activity fell in six provinces, led by British Columbia and Alberta.

The decline nationally was mainly attributable to both the residential and non-residential sectors in British Columbia and the non-residential sector in Alberta. Building permits increased in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.

The City of Hope has received a three-year, $535,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation that will enable it to remodel the main facilities office of Hope Village, a housing complex located on the cancer center’s campus.

Hope Village provides residential units for 40 patients and their caregivers while they are undergoing cancer treatment. The grant will help upgrade electricity and plumbing and bathroom fixtures in the office, which provides shared facilities for those staying at Hope Village.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has announced that its Dawson Creek, B.C., mill will curtail production of oriented strand board (OSB) beginning Aug. 25. The mill will continue to manufacture LP TechShield Radiant Barrier Sheathing to support its customers' needs in West Coast markets. 

The Dawson Creek OSB mill was constructed in 1987 and currently employs 114 people. After winterization and preparations for press shutdown are completed, about 26 employees will be retained to operate the TechShield Radiant Barrier line, and maintain the plant and equipment. 

Canadian-based wood products company West Fraser has announced it will sell its Eurocan site in Kitimat, B.C., and related assets to KM LNG Operating General Partnership. The completion of the sale is expected later in 2011.

“Further to the earlier agreement to sell the wharf to Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., we are pleased to announce the sale of the site to KM LNG, an industrial consortium led by Apache Canada Ltd,” said Hank Ketcham, West Fraser’s chairman, president and CEO.

Wood products producer West Fraser reported C$687 million in first-quarter sales, a very slight dip from sales of C$688 million in the same quarter a year ago. Net earning were C$19 million, compared with C$29 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010. 

In the lumber division, sales were reported as C$411 million, compared with C$409 million a year ago. Shipments were down 6%, the Vancouver, B.C.-based company said, although production rose by 9%. West Fraser’s Canadian mills operated at capacity, while its U.S. mills operated at approximately 75% of capacity.

Hardlines, the Toronto-based information service for the retail home improvement industry, presented its 2010 Newsmaker Award, and Hardware Merchandising magazine handed out seven Outstanding Retailer awards to Canadian hardware/home improvement retailers during the annual Hardlines Conference in Toronto.

Having lumber orders to fill and not enough inventory on the ground may sound like a dream to LBM dealers right now. But that day may arrive sometime in 2015, according to a forecast by Henry Spelter, an economist with Forest Economic Advisors. Reduced capacity, increased demand from China, the pine beetle infestation in Western Canada and other factors will combine to raise the prices of softwood lumber as supplies tighten.