Pope Resources Defers Portion Of Harvest Volume Amid Weak Log Prices

(RTTNews) - While reporting its financial results for the third quarter today, Pope Resources (POPE) said it has deferred a portion of its harvest, with the majority of the deferral attributable to tree farms owned by the Funds.

The company said it expects log prices will remain relatively flat over the next several quarters. In response, it may continue to defer some harvest volume.

For the full year, the company expects total annual log harvest and stumpage sale volume of between 79 and 84 million board feet or MMBF.

Tom Ringo, President and CEO of Pope Resources said, "Soft log markets continued to prevail in the third quarter for our Fee Timber segment, as the gradual recovery of US housing starts could not fully offset weak demand from Asia. In response to lower log price realizations, we have scaled back a portion of our harvest in anticipation of capturing greater value in the future as domestic housing starts slowly improve and log markets strengthen."