Interfor Corporation

Interfor Corporation

Traded as	TSX: IFP
Industry	Lumber manufacturer
Founded	May 6, 1963 (1963-May-06)
Headquarters	Vancouver, Canada
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Duncan K. Davies (President & CEO) Lawrence Sauder (Chair)[1]
Products	Forest Products
Revenue	$1.4 billion CAN (2014)
Number of employees	3400
Website	www.interfor.com

Interfor Corporation is one of the largest lumber producers in the world.^[2] The company's sawmilling operations have a combined manufacturing capacity of over 3 billion board feet of lumber with sales to North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Interfor is based in Vancouver, BC and provides employment to approximately 3400 people. In May 2014, Interfor opened its corporate office for the USA south-east region at Peachtree City, Georgia.

Quick Facts

• Primary Industry (NAICS): 113311-Logging (except contract)
• Total Sales in 2013 ($CDN): $1,105.2 million
• Corporate Headquarters: Bentall Tower Four, 3500-1055 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver BC V7X 1H7

History

• 1930s Began with a sawmill in Whonnock, BC.
• 1963 Incorporated as Yorkston Lumber Co.
• 1963 Name changed to Whonnock Lumber Co.
• 1967 Converted to a public company.
• 1967 Name changed to Whonnock Industries.
• 1979 Sauder Industries acquired a controlling interest in Interfor (later transferred to the Sauder family's Mountclair Investment Corporation holding company).
• 1988 Name changed to International Forest Products Ltd.
• 1995 Buy Weldwood Operation
• 1996 Close Bay Lumber Operation
• 2000 Sell Flavelle Mill
• 2001 Buy Primex Mills
• 2001 Close Fraser Mill
• 2002 Close MacDonald Operation/Open Sumas Operation
• 2004 Close Squamish Operation
• 2005 Buy Crown Pacific Limited Partners
• 2005 Buy Floragon Forest Products Molalla Inc.
• 2005 Close Marysville and Field Operations
• 2006 Sell Saltar and MacKenzie Operations
• 2008 Buy Portac Inc.
• 2008 Close Queensborough Operations
• 2013 Buy Rayonier Wood Products Division
• 2013 Buy Keadle Lumber Enterprises Inc.
• 2014 Buy Tolleson Lumber Company
• 2014 Name changed to Interfor Corporation
• 2014 Close Forks/Beaver Operations
• 2014 Acquired properties from Simpson Lumber Company

Products

Interfor produces lumber for residential, commercial and industrial applications.^[3] It uses several species of wood in its products, including Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Ponderosa pine, Lodgepole pine and Southern Yellow Pine. It markets European Spruce and Red Pine lumber through a sales agreement with Ilim Timber.^[4]

Mills

Interfor has sawmills in British Columbia (BC), Washington, Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas.^[5] In BC this includes two sawmills (Acorn and Hammond) on the Coast; two sawmills in the Kootenay region (Grand Forks and Castlegar); and one sawmill in the Southern Interior region near Kamloops (Adams Lake).

In the US Pacific Northwest, the company operates two sawmills in Washington state (Port Angeles and Longview) and two in Oregon (Molalla and Gilchrist). It operates the Cedarprime remanufacturing plant in Sumas, Washington.

In the US Southeast, the company operates seven sawmills in Georgia (Baxley, Eatonton, Meldrim, Perry, Preston, Swainsboro, and Thomaston), one in South Carolina (Georgetown), and one in Arkansas (Monticello).

Environmental Record

Interfor's woodlands and manufacturing operations have been independently certified to internationally recognized standards.^[6]

Manufacturing

All of Interfor's BC sawmills are Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certified. Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification tracks logs from harvest through the manufacturing process. In BC, Interfor mills are independently certified to meet Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) CoC certification requirements. Select Interfor mills meet Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) CoC certification requirements. Interfor's Preston and Perry Mills in the United States are certified to the SFI fiber sourcing requirements.^[7]

Woodlands

Interfor's woodlands operations have been certified to SFI since 2001.

Third-party certification to credible SFM standards has emerged as an innovative, voluntary tool to recognize good stewardship and promote continual improvement. Forest planning, harvesting and the Environmental Management System (EMS) that provides the structure for identifying, addressing and managing environmental issues are subject to annual external audits.

Interfor maintains an Environmental Management System (EMS) for its woodlands operations as a component of its SFI Program. The EMS has been in place and fully functioning since 1999.

Awards and Accomplishments 2009 - Interfor was awarded an SFI Inc. Conservation Leadership Award for collaborative work with First Nations to ensure there is a suitable supply of monumental cedar trees to meet long-term cultural needs on British Columbia's Pacific Coast.^[8]

2007 - Interfor was a co-recipient of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Gift to the Earth Award to acknowledge collaborative work that led to the landmark agreements to conserve temperate rainforests in British Columbia's north and central coast regions.^[9]

2000 - Interfor was one of 12 companies globally to receive the inaugural Millennium Business Award for Environmental Achievement, jointly presented by the United Nations Environmental Program and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Financials

Interfor has more than doubled in size since 2002^[10] and is one of the largest lumber companies in the world. It offers one of the broadest ranges of lumber products to customers around the globe so it is well-positioned to withstand market uncertainty and to take advantage of opportunities that are expected to arise in the future.

References

External links

• Official website
• Sedar Interfor public security filings
• Yahoo Finance
• Reuters