All posts by Jo English

Sveaskog's

Sveaskog’s 2Q net sales rose 13%

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Sveaskog’s 2Q 2018 net sales rose to SEK 1,918 million ($216 million), an increase of 13%. Sales of wood raw material amounted to 2.9 million cubic metres.

Operating profit from continuing operations increased by 12% and amounted to SEK 382 million ($43 million). The improvement in earnings is mainly an effect of higher prices. Difficult soil scarification and planting conditions led to a lower level of silvicultural activity. This had a negative effect on external sales of seeds and seedlings.

Profit for the 2Q 2018 increased by 108% and amounted to SEK 914 million ($103 million). New corporate tax rules resulted in lower deferred tax and therefore a lower tax expense which improved earnings by SEK 477 million ($53.7 million).

1H 2018 net sales, which comprise both deliveries from Sveaskog’s own forests and externally procured wood raw material, increased by 8% to SEK 3,567 million ($402 million). Sales of wood raw material amounted to 5.8 million cubic metres.

Operating profit from continuing operations increased by 7% and amounted to SEK 775 million ($87.3 million). Higher prices were offset to some extent by a 7% decrease in delivery volumes from own forests.

The main cause was the extremely snowy winter and record-dry early summer which had a negative impact on felling, soil scarification, planting and external sales of seedlings and seed. This has led to a delivery mix with a lower proportion of deliveries from own forests. On an annual basis, the delivery mix is expected to normalize.

Profit for the first six months of 2018 increased by 67% and amounted to SEK 1,301 million ($146 million).

Sveaskog is Sweden’s leading forest company and sells sawlogs, pulpwood, biofuel, forest seedlings and silvicultural services.

EBITDA

West Fraser Timber reports 2Q Adjusted EBITDA of $593 million

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West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. reports 2Q 2018 sales of $1,834 million, compared to $1,322 million in the 2Q 2017. Adjusted EBITDA was $593 million, compared to $305 in the 2Q 2017.

Lumber segment generated operating earnings of $358 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $467 million. Improved product pricing and increased shipments of 416 million board feet were largely responsible for the improved results. Countervailing and antidumping duties charged in the quarter were $81 million, of which $68 million was recorded as export duties expense in the earnings statement and $13 was recorded as a long-term duty receivable on the balance sheet.

Panels segment generated operating earnings in the 2Q 2018 $52 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $56 million. Improved plywood pricing and higher shipments boosted results.

Pulp & paper segment generated operating earnings of $56 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $68 million. Higher pulp prices were offset by lost production from a planned maintenance shutdown at Cariboo NBSK mill, transportation related production curtailments at Quesnel BCTMP mill, and a series of operational challenges at Hinton NBSK mill.

West Fraser is a diversified wood products company producing lumber, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp, newsprint, wood chips and energy with facilities in western Canada and the southern United States.

support

Tigercat – More Factory Support For British Columbia

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Tigercat has announced Mark Tourand has been appointed to the position of product support representative for British Columbia.

Tourand will be primarily involved with product support for Tigercat’s extensive customer base in western Canada.

Based in Merritt, British Columbia, Tourand has been involved in the equipment industry for over 25 years, previously working as a heavy-duty equipment technician in the manufacturing industry. he also has experience in the forestry and mining sectors.

“Along with Kushiah McCullough and Damien Donoher, I am very excited to add Mark to the support team for western Canada and the United States. We continue to have many new opportunities and applications for Tigercat machines. With new innovation and increased productivity comes increased complexity of machines. The importance of a top-notch support team is critical,” explains Rob Selby, Tigercat District Manager, also based in BC.

Tourand has strong technical knowledge related to diesel engines and electronic systems with professional training in power generation and diesel electric systems. He also has his Red Seal certification as a heavy-duty equipment technician.

“I am extremely excited to join an innovative and cutting edge team like Tigercat Industries. I am looking forward to supporting our dealers and customers in the west,” says Tourand.

BioVision

Arauco upgrades sawmill trimmer to USNR BioVision  

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Aserraderos Arauco’s mill – Horcones I, is updating its sawmill trimmer system to add vision technology. The mill’s existing scanning frame was installed in 2011 with BioLuma 2900L laser profile sensors, and the new BioLuma 2900LVG vision sensors are a direct replacement.

The BioLuma 2900LVG sensors provide advanced sawmill grade scanning with integrated HD laser profile measurements, HD color resolution at 0.5mm, and integrated GrainMap™ grain gradient measurements for more comprehensive defect analysis. Using an enhanced Image Processing Application (IPA), this system delivers far more detail than any other scanning platform on the market.

USNR has over 20 vision scanning installations in sawmills processing Radiata Pine, and over 120 vision scanning installations world wide.

stick lifters

USNR Stick Lifters upgrade for your Stick-N-Stacker

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USNR has designed a new all-electric Stick-N-Stacker (Lunden style) that boasts many advanced features. You can take advantage of the newer technology through upgrades to your existing stacker.

The new stick lifters are much more forgiving relative to both the lifting speed and positioning. The direct lifter design enables you to run at higher speeds without affecting lift position, and also prevents sticks from sliding and moving during the cycle.

  • Ensures proper loading and positioning of the sticks in the fork pans
  • Prevents sticks from moving during the cycle, no raked back sticks
  • Modifications to older stacker designs increases stick clearance, accommodates poor quality sticks
  • More uptime, fewer crashes
  • Light-weight, durable design
  • Highest speed stick lifter on the market

Click here to watch it in action.

USNR is continually making upgrades available for our existing systems as technology advances. For more upgrade options, click here.

Conifex Timber

Conifex Timber completes acquisition of sawmills in the U.S. South

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Conifex Timber Inc. has completed the acquisition of the Suwannee sawmill in Cross City, Florida and the Caddo River sawmill in Glenwood, Arkansas.

Ken Shields, Conifex’s President and CEO, stated: “As a result of this acquisition, our total annual lumber production capacity has increased by approximately 50% to 1.1 billion board feet and our total annual production capacity in the U.S. South has increased by approximately 200% to 550 million board feet.”

Conifex and its subsidiaries’ primary business currently includes timber harvesting, reforestation, forest management, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value added lumber finishing and distribution.

Photo: Ken Shields, Conifex’s President and CEO

Rex lumber

Rex Lumber set to break ground in Troy, Alabama

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Rex Lumber, headquartered in Graceville, Florida is set to break ground on its greenfield sawmill in Troy, Alabama.

Rex lumber currently operates three sawmills, two in the Florida Panhandle and one in Mississippi, producing a total of 575 million board feet annually. This will be Rex Lumber’s third sawmill expansion in the last seventeen years.

Annual production for the new mill will be a minimum of 240 mmbf. Rex anticipates the total capital cost to be approximately $110 million, including startup and working capital.

Over 110 new direct jobs are expected to be created with this new location.
Company website

contest

JoeScan Opens “Longest Running” Contest

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In an effort to reward customers for their loyalty to JoeScan’s products, the sawmill scanning solution provider has created a contest celebrating reliability and longevity. Mills are invited to enter and see if they are currently operating the “Longest Running JoeScan.”

“We’ve always been proud of the long-lasting performance sawmills can expect from our scanners,” says JoeScan founder Joey Nelson. “But we recently realized that we don’t know exactly which one of our units has been hard at work the longest. This contest is a great chance for us to find out, and for us to honor the mills that have counted on us the longest.”

Sawmills that are currently running JoeScan scan heads can enter in one of three ways:

  1. By visiting www.joescan.com/contest and filling out a short form.
  2. By emailing contest@joescan.com with the name of your mill, and the approximate date of install for your JoeScan hardware.
  3. By sharing a photo of the hardware to social media, using the hashtag #LongestRunningJoescan.

JoeScan will cross reference the entries with their records and identify a winner by September 30, 2018.

The winner will then be invited to attend the 2018 Timber Processing & Energy Expo show as JoeScan’s special guest. They will also be presented with an award at a special ceremony during the show, recognizing their hard work, dedication, and commitment to quality sawmill scanning.

Kodiak

Kodiak acquires Forest Tek Lumber and Overseas Lumber Company

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Kodiak Building Partners has acquired substantially all assets of Forest Tek/Overseas Lumber, reports LBM Journal.

Forest Tek/Overseas was founded in 1982 by Allen Wood and Bruce McClenithan of the Florida Keys. Allen and Bruce will continue to run Forest Tek/Overseas, as it joins the LBM division at Kodiak Building Partners under the leadership of Mike and Pat Flood, Co-Presidents of the building materials group.

“Kodiak Building Partners was our first choice. We appreciate their business model that allows us to continue running our businesses in an autonomous manner, while enjoying the synergies and benefits that a company of their breadth allows,” owner Allen Wood said.

Valutec

Valutec to supply continuous kilns to Pleasant River Lumber in Maine, USA

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Pleasant River Lumber of Maine, USA, is the first company in North America to invest in TC continuous kilns from Valutec.

“We visited several Swedish sawmills that were using Valutec products and they exceeded our highest expectations in terms of the details, quality of design and energy efficiency. At the end of the day, it was a very easy decision.

Valutec has a product that will position us at the leading edge throughout North America when it comes to drying technology,” says Jason Brochu, owner of Pleasant River Lumber.

Pleasant River Lumber primarily serves its domestic market and the two continuous kilns it has purchased will be used at two facilities, throughout the entire sawmill production process.

Photo: Jason Brochu, owner of Pleasant River Lumber.