Soft U.S. lumber demand sinks prices: Tembec CEO

Forest-product producer Tembec Inc. reported its third-quarter profit dropped 70 percent and its revenue fell 18 percent from a year earlier, due to lower lumber prices.

CEO James Lopez tells BNN last year at this time, there was a run-up in the price of pulp and the company had to meet the demand for lumber that Chile could not after it suffered a major earthquake. “Lumber is a bit softer, with the U.S. housing situation being what it is, and demand being down, our lumber price is softer,” he says.

While demand for lumber from China has picked up, it hasn’t been enough to replace the U.S. as a lumber consumer. “It’s the largest lumber market in the world, and they’re not big enough. But what they have done is to help put a floor on pricing,” he says, adding that in May, more lumber was shipped from B.C. to China than the U.S.