Canfor Corporation

A cut aboveCanfor Corporation, a Canadian forest products company based in Vancouver, utilizes every aspect of forestry to maintain a lucrative portfolio of lumber and pulp products. Kate Sawyer reports. As the largest producer of softwood lumber in Canada, Canfor Corporation understands that what gives a company success and longevity is a reactive business model that responds to changing economic conditions.   Founded in 1938 as a simple furniture and paneling veneer company, today Canfor Corporation is an integrated forest products company producing lumber, oriented stand board (OSB), and plywood, as well as numerous remanufactured lumber products and specialized wood products. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Canfor operates 32 facilities throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Washington State, and North and South Carolina. Posting revenues of $4 billion, Canfor also owns a controlling interest in Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership, one of the largest producers of northern softwood kraft pulp in Canada.Each year, Canfor produces approximately five billion board feet of lumber, 450 million square feet of plywood, and one billion square feet of OSB. Canfor and Canfor Pulp Income Fund have 7,300 employees and work with more than 2,200 contractors. Additionally, Canfor owns subsidiary New South Companies, Inc., with locations in both North and South Carolina. Four separate companies operate under its umbrella, processing lumber and providing forestry transportation throughout the South. In 1938, John Prentice and Poldi Bentley founded Pacific Veneer, as a furniture and paneling veneer company. Building a small mill of 28 employees on the Fraser River in New Westminster, British Columbia, from the start the company integrated their operations into one cohesive organization. Within a few years, Pacific Veneer became a supplier of plywood for aviation and marine applications, and the mill soon employed 1,000 men and women. The acquisition of Eburne Saw Mills Limited, located near the mouth of the Fraser River, gave them the ability to work with even more types of wood.Over the next 10 years, more companies were acquired, including a small firm called Canadian Forest Products Limited. The name resonated for Prentice and Bentley, and in 1947, they rebranded all operations under that name. Over time, that in turn would be shortened to Canfor, as it stands today.This process of strategic acquisitions has made Canfor what it is today. In 1951, Canfor moved into the pulp business, with a mill on Howe Sound at Port Mellon. The original mill was steadily expanded and upgraded, and Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited incorporated in 1988 as an equal joint venture company between Canfor Corporation and Oji Paper Co. Ltd. of Japan. The mill underwent a further modernization which expanded the production capacity by more than half, and added a newsprint mill. It is now one of the worldÔÇÖs most efficient and cleanest pulp and paper mills.In all of its operations, Canfor strives to maintain sustainability. CanforÔÇÖs Forestry Principles, developed by Canfor staff and outside experts in 1999, are based on the tenets of ecosystem management, continuous improvement, public involvement and third party verification of performance. ÔÇ£CanforÔÇÖs proud history began along the banks of the Fraser River with one veneer plant in New Westminster. Our growth to become British ColumbiaÔÇÖs largest forest products company has always included a firm belief in responsible environmental stewardship,ÔÇØ said Ken Higginbotham, vice president of Forestry and Environment.While the downturn of the housing market in the US has certainly had an effect on the lumber industry, Canfor is weathering the storm by carefully controlling expenditures and managing production. ÔÇ£2007 was a difficult year for our industry,ÔÇØ said Canfor President and CEO, Jim Shepard. ÔÇ£The collapse of the US housing market, record low lumber and panel prices, and a strong Canadian dollar in combination made for some of the worst market conditions the forest sector has seen in decades.ÔÇØWhen Shepard took the reins in 2007, he had a vision to keep Canfor at the forefront of the forest sector, despite the difficulties ahead. Through careful management and decisive action, Shepard has helped defend CanforÔÇÖs position as a leader in the field. ÔÇ£I have the utmost confidence in our people and firmly believe that we have the strategy in place that will position us to not only persevere today but also achieve great success in the future,ÔÇØ he said at the Annual General Meeting in May 2008.┬á