American lumber, panels and engineered wood producer Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) saw its losses narrow in the first quarter and expects activity to increase in the remainder of the year.
LP recorded an operating loss of US$42.5m, compared with a loss of US$85.7m a year ago. Sales of US$204.6m were down 41% on a year ago.
The OSB division reported an operating loss of US$24.2m – an improvement of 61%, while the siding business showed a US$2.1m profit.
Engineered wood sales were particularly badly hit with the decline in housing starts. Losses widened by 14% to US$9.2m from sales of US$30m (down 50%).
LP said while it expects activity to now increase, the rate of growth was “unclear”.
