The company that owns sawmills in Grand Forks and Castlegar is reporting a net loss in the second quarter of $14.1 million, or 27 cents per share.
Interfor says that’s compared to a net profit of $269.9 million during the same period of 2022.
That’s despite shipping a record 1.1 billion board feet of lumber, 112 million more than in the first quarter.
Year to date, Interfor has a net loss of $55.4 million, whereas it made $666.9 million from January through the end of June last year.
“Lumber prices continue to reflect softened demand driven by the elevated interest rate environment and several supply-side factors,” the company wrote in its earnings report issued Thursday.
Interfor said North American lumber markets are expected to remain “volatile” in the near term. The wildfire season in Canada and port strike in BC don’t help either, the company added.
But over the mid-term they expect lumber markets will benefit from positive demand due to aging US housing stock among other things.
The earnings report made no specific mention of either local operation.