Conifex Timber Inc. finished 2020 with a net loss of $6.8 million from continuing operations, the company said in a year-end report.
Despite finishing in the red, the outcome was an improvement from the $30.4-million loss from the same operations for 2019. It said results for 2020 were "materially impacted" by a curtailment of its Mackenzie sawmill from April 6 to July 6 but it was back in operation in time to reap the benefits of rebounding North American lumber markets.
The benchmark price for Western Spruce-Pine-Fir averaged Cdn $746 per 1,000 board feet for 2020, a 56-per-cent increase from the prior year and hit a peak of $912 in the fourth quarter.
The company also expensed $10.5 million in counterveiling and anti-dumping duties related to the Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement, up 18 per cent from 2019.
Conifex's Mackenzie power plant brought in $24.7 million worth of sales of electricity to BC Hydro, down about $900,000 from 2019 as production declined to 202.5 gigawatt hours from 211 in 2019.
A failed component in the plant's power generator forced 29 days of unplanned downtime while BC Hydro exercised an option to "turn down" electricity purchased for about four months, starting in late April.
Looking ahead, the company expects the lumber market to remain strong, "supported by robust demand form U.S. housing starts and continued strength in the repair and remodeling sector."
In 2019, Conifex shut down its Fort St. James sawmill and sold the related tenure to Oregon-based Hampton Lumber Mills.
Net loss from the operation amounted to $169.8 million in 2019, according to Conifex's report.
Privately-owned Hampton has said it plans to have a new sawmill up and running in Fort St. James sometime in 2022.
