MAY 2014 BCBusiness 21 PAUL JOSEPH
Duncan Davies
In a notoriously cyclical industry, International Forest
Products Ltd. chose not to just weather the storm of
recent years, but aggressively invested in upgrades and
acquisitions. President and
CEO Duncan Davies explains
how the company just might point the way to the future
of the B.C. lumber industry
by David Jordan
I
nterfor posted a profit in
2013, after six consecutive
years of losses. Was it just
a good year, or do you see
it as a turning point for the
company?
I think we're seeing a turnaround
in the U.S. housing market, which
is the largest market for all the
major lumber producers in North
America. We've been through a
pretty difficult period over the
last six or seven years and we're
seeing gradual recovery, so I'm
optimistic that things are starting
to move in the right direction.
And as the market recovers,
obviously conditions are much
better for companies like ours.
How much of last year's suc-
cess is due to improving mar-
ket conditions, and how much
to your strategy of investing
in acquisitions and operations
upgrades?
It's a combination of the two.
Obviously with better markets
you have more opportunities,
more volume you can produce
and sell into the market. But a
number of those things we've
done over the last several years
are really starting to come to
fruition. The capital investments
that we've made in our facilities,
both in Canada and the U.S., are
delivering very good returns for us. And
the growth that we've undertaken over
the last number of years is also making a
significant contribution to those results.
The major part of your recent
growth has been acquisitions in
the U.S. southeast. How much of
your operations are now in B.C.,
versus in the U.S.?
B.C. is now about 40 per cent of our
production capacity, after the closing
of the Tolleson Lumber Co. acquisition
in Georgia [announced in February].
f o r e s t r y
p18-24-Frontlines_may.indd 21 2014-04-09 3:12 PM
