A plunge in the price of oriented strand board, the strength of the Canadian dollar and production curtailments at Minnesota mills produced a $77.5 million loss for Ainsworth Lumber Co. during the third quarter. In the July-through-September period of 2005, the company reported a profit of $46.8 million.
Sales, too, were down from a year ago. This year's third-quarter sales were reported at $181.1 million, while in the same period of 2005 they were $270.7 million, the company said in a news release.
For reporting, Ainsworth uses the Canadian dollar, which on Wednesday was worth 88.5 cents in U.S. currency.
The 2006 results also include a one-time $55.3 million write-down of capital assets and $4.4 million in expenses from permanently closing one production line at its OSB mill in Bemidji, Minn.
For the first nine months of 2006, Ainsworth reported a loss of $27.5 million on sales of $707.9 million.
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Ainsworth closed its mills in Cook and Grand Rapids in September, and said they will remain closed until the OSB market improved. The three Ainsworth mills are the largest consumers of pulpwood in Minnesota.
The company is headquartered in Vancouver, B.C.
