Bullboard - Stock Discussion Forum Interfor Corp T.IFP

Alternate Symbol(s): IFSPF

Forest Products Lumber & Wood Production

Interfor Corporation is a Canada-based forest products company. The Company and its subsidiaries produce wood products in Canada and the United States for sale to markets around the world. It operates through the solid wood products segment. The Company’s product categories include Dimension Lumber, Specialty Lumber and Engineered Wood Products. Its products include Spruce-Pine-Fir, Douglas Fir... see more

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Interfor Corp > TD Notes

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Post by retiredcf on May 17, 2021 9:08am

TD Notes

Trees Weekly

Cash Lumber Prices Set New Highs as Futures Prices Correct Reports Indicate Slowing Wood Product Demand from R&R Channels

With few exceptions, equities in our coverage universe declined last week, outpacing the broader market pullback. The average share-price decline for our coverage universe was 3.7% versus declines of 0.5% for the S&P/TSX Composite and 1.4% for the S&P 500. Losses last week were widespread, with Domtar the only notable upside outlier (the company's share price increased 14.2% after Paper Excellence reached a definitive offer to acquire the company). The sharp pullback follows an unprecedented run for the sector since March 2020 (sector average return of 341.9% over that duration).
Opposing trends for lumber markets. The cash market Western SPF 2x4 price increased another 5% last week to US$1,630/Mfbm — a new record. This price is 5.8x April 2020 lows and almost 2.5x the precedent cyclical peak in Q2/18. Although cash market prices kept climbing, the July futures contract has declined 20% over the past week to US$1,390/Mfbm. Anecdotal reports referenced lower demand from big-box retailers and Q1/21 earnings reports indicated a build up of inventory at the mill level (albeit from an extremely low base).
OSB prices keep churning higher. The benchmark North Central OSB price of US$1,255/Msf increased 4% for the week, and has improved 5.6x from the trough 13 months ago. Market commentary noted still-strong order files, but cited "buyer fatigue" with notable tempered demand from DIY channels.
Tone has shifted for pulp markets. RISI Fastmarkets reported a preliminary May North American NBSK list price of US$1,600/tonne at the low end of the range — up US$35/tonne from April and the slowest rate of gain since January. North American spot NBSK prices are reportedly US$910/tonne at the bottom end of the range; this is flat compared with April and the first time that spot markets have not posted monthly gains since last September.