West Fraser Timber Co Ltd T.WFG

Alternate Symbol(s): WFG

Forest Products Lumber & Wood Production

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is a diversified wood products company. The Company is engaged in manufacturing, selling, marketing and distributing lumber, engineered wood products, including oriented strand board (OSB), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), medium-density fiberboard (MDF), plywood, particleboard, pulp, newsprint, wood chips and other residuals and renewable energy. Its products are used in home construction, repair and remodeling, industrial applications, paper, tissues, and box materials. Its segments include Lumber, North America engineered wood products (NA EWP), Pulp & Paper and Europe EWP. Its business comprises lumber mills, OSB facilities, renewable energy facilities, pulp and paper mills, plywood facilities, MDF facilities, particleboard facilities, LVL facility, treated wood facility, and veneer facility. The Company operates approximately 58 facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. It also offers wood preservation services.

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West Fraser Timber Co Ltd

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Post by retiredcfon Oct 19, 2021 11:26am

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Post# 34022583

TD Notes

September U.S. Housing Starts/Permits A Little Below Estimates Event

The U.S. Census Bureau released September 2021 U.S. housing data this morning.

Housing starts of 1.555 million units (seasonally adjusted annual rate, SAAR) were 3.6% below the consensus forecast of 1.613 million units. September SAAR starts declined 1.6% m/m as unchanged single-family units were offset by a 5.1% m/m decline in multi-family units. The multi-family data series is typically more volatile. U.S. new home construction comprises ~25% of North American lumber shipments and ~50% of North American oriented strand board (OSB) shipments.

Lumber-weighted equities: West Fraser (WFG-N,T), Canfor (CFP-T), Interfor (IFP- T), Western Forest Products (WEF-T), Resolute Forest Products (RFP-N,T).

OSB-weighted equities: Louisiana-Pacific (LPX-N), West Fraser (WFG-N,T).

Impact: SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE

September housing starts and permits represented five-month and one-year lows, respectively. One attenuating factor, in our view, is that weaker trends last month were primarily weighted to the less wood-intensive multi-family segment. We attribute the moderation to ongoing supply chain disruptions and labor shortages as home demand remains strong. The October confidence index for single-family homebuilders released yesterday improved m/m for the second consecutive month and remains solidly in positive territory.

Details

September single-family SAAR starts of 1.080 million units were unchanged m/m (the August reading was revised 0.4% higher). September single-family starts were 17.9% below the December 2020 cyclical peak of 1.315 million units (15-year high).
September building permits (SAAR) of 1.589 million units (one-year low) were 5.4% below the consensus forecast of 1.680 million units. Building permits decreased 7.7% m/m, led by an 18.3% m/m decline for multi-family (single-family permits moderated only 0.9% m/m), and were 15.6% below the January 2021 peak of 1.883 million units.
The lumber and OSB price recovery continues. The cash market Western SPF 2x4 price is US$600/Mfbm (highest level since early-July 2021) — up 56% versus the mid-August trough. The benchmark North Central OSB price of US$490/Msf is also at a three-month high after having rallied 26% versus mid-August lows.