Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: What do you think about West Fraser Timber? It’s up a lot, but what do you think lies ahead? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: West Fraser Timber, $92.20, symbol WFT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 73.9 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; www.westfraser.com), is the largest North American softwood lumber producer (with a 10% market share). It has 7.2 billion board feet of capacity in Western Canada and the southern U.S. The company also produces wood-based panels, pulp and newsprint. West Fraser has one of the lowest cost structures in the North American industry, and this is leading to higher profits. Unlike many forest-product companies, it has low debt, which stands at $654.0 million, or a low 10% of its $6.6 billion market cap. The bilateral softwood lumber trade agreement between Canada and the U.S. expired in 2015. In April 2017, President Trump put a 20% tariff on lumber imported from Canada, marking an escalation of trade tensions ahead of the president’s promised effort to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Lumber prices have fallen since hitting an all-time high in mid-May 2018. Still, wood prices are…