Fitch: Slow But Improving Start for U.S. Paper, Forest Products Industry.CHICAGO -- Operating margins for the U.S. Paper and Forest Products industry were dragged down by high transportation, energy and fiber costs in the first quarter, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. . The industry improved compared to Q4 of 2005, but lagged in comparison to Q1 of 2005 in a fast growing economy. E[acute accent acute accent n. A mark (´) indicating: a. that a vowel is close or tense, as é in French été. b. that a vowel or syllable has a high or rising pitch, as in Chinese or Ancient Greek. c. ]Paper and linerboard lin·er·board n. A type of paperboard used in making corrugated cartons. prices are at their highest levels since the second half of 2000, while costs have come down. These trends point to solid Q2 results, although uneven demand makes it difficult to say whether prices will be maintained at current levels for the second half of 2006. Lumber and panel prices continue to play catch up to 2005. Summer construction should contribute to a solid Q2 earnings season. A slide in housing starts, however, suggests that industry profit levels will be down in the second half from 2005, excluding special factors such as the return of lumber duties. E[acute accent]Fitch believes the paper industry's outlook in Q2 will be stronger, but there are risks to earnings in the back end of the year. Debt levels are not expected to increase much due to restrained capital expenditures and asset sales, and some credit profiles should see modest improvements. E[acute accent]The full report 'Paper and Forest Products: Spring Quarter 2006 -- A Slow Start' can be found at www.fitchratings.com. E[acute accent]Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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