Construction Industry News Update
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
"The Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement store chain, cited erratic weather and continued weakness in the housing market as it reported Tuesday a 29.5 percent drop in first-quarter profit."
"'While we expected a tough quarter, this was worse than we expected,' CEO Frank Blake said in a conference call with analysts. He said the housing market continues to be a challenge, and erratic weather conditions across the United States negatively affected the company's spring selling season."
"Blake said Home Depot is not expecting any 'near-term market improvement.'"
The Canadian Press. "Forestry company Tembec Inc says it will shut down its Kirkland Lake, Ont. engineered wood products mill for at least two months to cut inventories because of the slumping U.S. housing sector."
"'Demand for lumber is down sharply, driven primarily by the dramatic decline in the level of housing starts in the United States,' said Dennis Rounsville, president of Tembec's forest products group. 'This decline in demand has resulted in both lower prices for lumber and reduced operating rates in sawmills across Eastern Canada.'"
Labels: Construction Industry, Construction News
