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You probably mean Bois Laurentien. It's listed in the FP Survey of Industrials as "a pallet manufacturer"--the name suggests a sawmill at least and more likely a producer of raw timber as well as a holder of timber tenure, but this doesn't seem to be the case. This surprises me too, now that I'm looking at it, I just assumed....This is my business (30 yrs) out here (long way from Qu‚bec, I can see Japan right now, it's that clear). I produce and sell logs, but get to see the upstream dynamics. Lumber has been real high over the winter, but has been edging off, and often comes way down after a flurry in April-May. Pallets can be made from shorts, though, this is lumber in less than construction lengths, say under 8 feet--shorts are much cheaper, sometimes a quarter the price....finger-jointing (making short ones into long ones) may have cut into the availability of shorts....Vertical integration (attempts to control the wood from the stump to the consumer) has lost it's appeal in recent years, there are more pure plays in timber, pulp, and solid wood being spun off, that way you're not captive to the producer or consumer of your product....In any case, fluctuation in the price of wood of whatever form can work for you or against you, with considerable leverage--and your competitors are paying the same, it's a big liquid market--so there's no long-term effect here, IMHO... |
