Rising North American OSB prices and cuts in operating costs helped Norbord post a US$10m EBITDA (earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation) in the third quarter of 2009.
It was a marked improvement on the US$9m EBITDA loss in the same quarter last year, although the company still posted an overall loss of US$7m on sales of US$192m (US$256m: 2008).
Despite the improvement, Barrie Shineton, president and chief executive officer of the Toronto-based wood-based panel producer, said market indicators remained weak.
“In my view, high unemployment and restrictions on credit availability for first time home buyers in the US and UK will continue to impact on housing and panel demand,” he said. “We expect it will take six to 12 months for these trends to reverse and meaningful improvement to occur in new home construction.”
In North America, the North Central OSB benchmark price peaked at US$191 and averaged US$178 in the third quarter – US$32 higher than the average price in the second quarter, but US$23 lower than the same period last year. South-east prices averaged $157 in the third quarter, a similar level to the same period in 2008.
