Prince George, B.C.- Canfor Pulp is reporting record sales for the third quarter, with sales of $247.million and a net income of $54.5 million.

 

Higher prices for the  pulp and paper products offset lower shipments and higher unit manufacturing costs.

The scheduled maintenance downtime  at the Northwood Pulp Mill, originally estimated to result in 10,000 tonnes of reduced production was extended for additional inspections and repairs to the recovery boilers. The additional work extended the outage into the fourth quarter of 2010 for a total of 24,000 tonnes of reduced production with approximately 18,000 tonnes in the third quarter and 6,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter.

Softwood pulp markets remained balanced through the quarter. Bleached softwood inventories increased because of reduced demand from China and the typical seasonal slowdown through the summer months.   The increase in supply resulted in a drop in North American prices of $30 dollars  in September, down from the July peak price of $ 1,020.

 

Some North American bleached softwood capacity was restarted in late September which will result in a modest increase in supply but that increase in supply should be offset in the short term by scheduled seasonal maintenance .