CANADA - Norbord Inc., the world’s largest producer of oriented strand board (OSB) reported Adjusted EBITDA of USD 33 million in the third quarter of 2019 compared to USD 211 million in the third quarter of 2018.

The decrease was primarily due to lower North American oriented strand board (OSB) prices and volumes.

North American operations generated Adjusted EBITDA of USD 24 million compared to USD 190 million in the same quarter last year. European operations delivered Adjusted EBITDA of USD 11 million, down USD 23 million in the year-ago quarter.

In the 3Q-2019 Norbord recorded an Adjusted loss of USD 9 million compared to an Adjusted earning of USD 123 million in the third quarter of 2018.

“After the negative effects of affordability concerns and record wet weather on US housing starts in late 2018 and early 2019, we have started to see improvement this past quarter,” said Peter Wijnbergen, Norbord’s President and CEO. “Mortgage rates are well below 4 percent and homebuilders continue to report improved levels of buyer interest and net order growth. While we are entering the slower winter construction season, the expectation is that these positive indicators will carry over into 2020.”

“However, these improving housing fundamentals have yet to translate into a significant recovery in OSB markets. We took extensive downtime across our North American mills for the fourth straight quarter to ensure Norbord continues to match production to demand. In addition to the indefinite curtailment of our 100 Mile House, British Columbia mill in August, we made the difficult decision to indefinitely curtail Line 1 of our Cordele, Georgia mill effective mid-November. Poor market conditions and lower-than-anticipated OSB demand, particularly in the South East region, do not currently support the economic operation of the line.”