Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. Business
General
We are a leading provider of high-performance building solutions that meet the demands of builders, remodelers, and homeowners worldwide. We have leveraged our expertise serving the new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structures markets to become an industry leader known for innovation, quality, and reliability. Our customers are primarily homebuilding, retail, wholesale, and industrial businesses. Since our founding in 1972, LP has been Building a Better World™ by helping customers construct beautiful, durable homes. We are headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and as of December 31, 2021, we operated 25 plants across the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Brazil.
The table below summarizes the relative sizes of our business segments in 2021:
Segment Net Sales
(in millions) Percentage of 2021 Net Sales
Siding $ 1,170 26 %
Oriented Strand Board (OSB) 2,387 52 %
Engineered Wood Products (EWP) 638 14 %
South America 265 6 %
Other 95 2 %
Intersegment (3) — %
$ 4,553
Our Business Segments
Siding
We believe that we are the largest producer of engineered wood siding. Our Siding segment serves diverse end markets with a broad product offering, including LP ® SmartSide ® Trim & Siding, LP ® SmartSide ® ExpertFinish ® Trim & Siding, LP BuilderSeries ® Lap Siding, and LP ® Outdoor Building Solutions ® (collectively referred to as Siding Solutions). Our Siding Solutions products consist of a full line of engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia. These products offer superior protection against hail, wind, moisture, fungal decay, and termites compared to solid wood. These products are used in new home construction, repair and remodeling projects, and outdoor structures such as sheds.
We intend to continue growing Siding sales and increase the breadth of our Siding product offerings. To do so, we plan to increase the production capacity of these higher-margin, value-added products through the addition of new plants, additional conversion of existing OSB plants to Siding manufacturing plants, expansion of our capacity at existing Siding facilities, and expansion of our pre-finished (primed and painted) offerings. We will also continue to drive product innovation by utilizing our technological expertise in wood composites, overlays, chemical treatments, and durable and beautiful paints to better address the needs of our customers.
Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
OSB is a structural building product made from wood strands, arranged in layers, and bonded with resin and wax. OSB serves many of the same uses as plywood, including roof decking, sidewall sheathing and floor underlayment,
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but less expensive and more sustainable. Our OSB segment manufactures and distributes OSB structural panel products, including our innovative value-added OSB portfolio known as LP Structural Solutions (which includes LP ® TechShield ® Radiant Barrier, LP WeatherLogic ® Air & Water Barrier, LP Legacy ® Premium Sub-Flooring, LP ® FlameBlock ® Fire-Rated Sheathing, and LP ® TopNotch ® Sub-Flooring).
We intend to continue to grow sales of our Structural Solutions portfolio as a percentage of our total production and to aggressively manage cost through (i) the efficiency with which we operate our manufacturing facilities (measured in Overall Equipment Effectiveness, or OEE), (ii) the efficiency with which we convert sustainably harvested wood fiber into our products, and (iii) our ongoing work to optimize logistics and reduce other costs.
Engineered Wood Products (EWP)
Our EWP segment is comprised of LP ® SolidStart ® I-Joist (I-Joist), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), and other related products. This segment also includes the sale of I-Joists produced by our joint venture with Resolute Forest Products, Inc., as well as plywood manufactured by our LVL operations in Golden, British Columbia. During 2021, we ceased Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL) production at our Houlton, Maine facility to begin the conversion of that facility to Siding Solutions production.
In North America, we are one of the top three producers (including our joint venture production) of I-Joists and LVL. We believe that our engineered I-Joists, which are used primarily in residential and commercial flooring and roofing systems and other structural applications, are stronger, lighter, straighter, and more sustainable than conventional lumber joists of similar dimensions. Our LVL is a high-grade, value-added structural product used in applications where extra strength and quality are required, such as headers and beams.
We continue to explore strategic alternatives with respect to the remaining EWP segment, including a possible sale in whole or in part, as previously announced.
South America
Our South American segment manufactures and distributes OSB structural panel and siding products in South America and certain export markets. This segment also distributes and sells related products to encourage the region’s transition to wood frame construction. This segment has manufacturing operations in two countries, Chile and Brazil, and operates sales offices in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay. We believe that we are the leading producer of OSB and siding in South America, and we are positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for wood-based residential construction in South America.
Our Business Strategy
Grow Our Siding Business. We believe that our leadership position in treated engineered wood siding allows us to benefit from demand growth, particularly as sustainable engineered wood continues to displace alternative siding materials such as vinyl, fiber cement, and other materials. We have consistently grown our Siding segment above the underlying market growth rates, and this segment is less sensitive to new housing market cyclicality as over 50% of Siding Solutions demand comes from other markets, including sheds and repair and remodeling. We believe that long-term market trends and demographics suggest continued growth in demand for sustainable engineered wood siding in these markets, which we are well-positioned to meet.
During 2021, we announced a phased capacity expansion strategy for Siding Solutions. This expansion strategy includes the conversion of our OSB mill in Sagola, Michigan, to Siding Solutions production sometime after siding production begins at our Houlton, Maine mill. The conversion of these two facilities will add approximately 520 million square feet of Siding Solutions capacity and remove 670 million square feet of OSB capacity (on a 3/8” basis).
Generate Value-Added Sales Growth Through Customer Focus and Innovation. We believe that our products help customers address labor shortages because they are easy to work with and often combine multiple steps into a
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single product system. Our marketing efforts drive awareness and a greater understanding of our products’ potential with builders, repair and remodel contractors, industrial manufacturers, and major home improvement retailers. Through our sales efforts we target customers by distribution channel and focus on providing them with a broad array of traditional and specialty building products coupled with quality service. Our strategically located facilities in the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Brazil allow us to be closer to our customers and more responsive to their changing needs. We prioritize high-quality service and continue to build on our reputation for on-time shipments. In addition, we continually seek to identify new specialty building solutions and markets where we can utilize our core competencies in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of building products.
Focus on Operating Efficiency, Cost Reduction, and Portfolio Optimization. We continue to improve the OEE of our manufacturing facilities. Our OEE programs have produced excellent returns and generated many best practices that have been applied across our manufacturing system. Given these initiatives and the strategic locations of many of our facilities, we believe that we are very competitive regarding average delivered cost.
As market conditions change, we will continue to adapt our product mix, selectively invest in new technologies that modernize our manufacturing facilities, and manage our capacity to best match customer demand. We believe that these strategies optimize our portfolio and margins and enhance the quality and consistency of our earnings.
Pursue Selected Strategic Transactions. We continuously evaluate strategic investments in assets, businesses, and technologies, as well as the performance of our businesses. We believe that our pursuit of these opportunities, if successful, could enable us to increase the size and scope of our businesses or joint ventures.
We continue to explore strategic alternatives with respect to the EWP segment, including a possible sale in whole or in part, as previously announced. We can give no assurance as to whether we will be able to identify any strategic alternatives that are likely to increase value to our stockholders.
Expand Internationally. We believe that our investments in South America will help us continue to satisfy the growing demand for wood-based residential construction in this region. Continued investments as a market leader in this region should allow us to capitalize on demand while diversifying our revenue mix and market cyclicality.
Our Market
Our sales and marketing efforts are primarily focused on traditional distribution, professional building products dealers, home centers, third-party wholesale buying groups, and end-users, particularly homeowners. The wholesale distribution channel includes a variety of specialized and broad-line wholesale distributors and dealers focused primarily on the supply of products for use by professional builders and contractors. The retail distribution channel includes large retail chains catering to the do-it-yourself (DIY) and repair and remodeling markets as well as smaller independent retailers.
Our Customers
We seek to maintain a broad customer base and a balanced approach to national distribution through both wholesale and retail channels. In 2021, our top ten customers accounted for approximately 43% of our sales. Our principal customers include the following:
• Wholesale distribution companies, which supply building materials to retailers on a regional, state, or local basis;
• Distributors, who provide building materials to smaller retailers, contractors, and others;
• Building materials professional dealers that specialize in sales to professional builders, remodeling firms, and trade contractors that are involved in residential home construction and light commercial building;
• Retail home centers that provide access to consumer markets with a broad selection of home improvement
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materials and increasingly serve professional builders, DIY remodelers, and trade contractors; and
• Shed producers that design, construct, and distribute prefabricated residential and light commercial structures, including fully manufactured, modular, and panelized structures, for consumer and professional markets.
Our Competitors / Competition
The building products industry is highly competitive. We compete internationally with several thousand forest and building products firms, ranging from very large, fully integrated firms to smaller enterprises that may manufacture a few items. We also compete less directly with firms that manufacture substitutes for wood building products.
Our specialty products, including Siding Solutions, Structural Solutions, and EWP I-Joist and LVL, generally compete based on product features, benefits, quality, and availability. Our commodity OSB generally competes based on price, quality, and availability of products.
Our Manufacturing
We operate manufacturing facilities throughout North and South America. Our facilities utilize the best available manufacturing techniques based on the needs of our businesses, and we continuously work to improve efficiency and productivity, as measured by OEE. We currently operate 22 strategically located manufacturing and production facilities in the U.S. and Canada, two facilities in Chile, and one facility in Brazil. We also operate additional facilities through our joint ventures in North America.
Strategic Sourcing
We rely on various suppliers to furnish the raw materials and inputs used in the manufacturing of our products. To maximize our buying effectiveness in the marketplace, we have a central strategic sourcing group that consolidates purchases of certain materials and indirect items across business segments. The goal of the strategic sourcing group is to develop global strategies for a given component group, identify suppliers that meet our business requirements, and develop long-term relationships with these vendors. By developing these strategies and relationships, we seek to leverage our material needs to implement leading practices, reduce costs, improve process efficiency, improve operating performance. and ensure continuity of supply.
Raw Materials
Wood fiber is the primary raw material used in most of our operations, and the primary source of wood fiber is timber. The primary end-markets for timber harvested in North America are manufacturers who supply: (1) the housing market where it is used in the construction of new housing and the repair and remodeling of existing housing; (2) the pulp and paper market; (3) commercial and industrial markets; (4) export markets; and (5) emerging biomass energy production markets. The supply of timber is limited by the availability of and access to timberlands. The availability of timberlands, in turn, is limited by several factors, including policies governing forest management, alternate uses of land, and loss to urban or suburban real estate development. Because wood fiber is subject to commodity pricing, the cost of various types of timber that we purchase in the market has, at times, fluctuated greatly due to weather, governmental regulations, or economic and other industry conditions. However, our mills are generally located near large and diverse supplies of timber. We source all our wood fiber sustainably, as certified against Sustainable Forestry Initiative ® (SFI ® ) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC ® ) standards.
In addition to wood fiber, we use significant quantities of various resins in our manufacturing processes. Resin product costs are influenced by changes in the prices of raw materials used to produce resin, primarily petroleum products and energy, as well as competing demand for resin products. Currently, we purchase most of our resin from four major suppliers. However, there can be no assurance that pricing or availability of resins will not be impacted by competing demand or supply chain disruptions due to significant weather or other uncontrollable events.
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While a significant portion of our energy requirements are met at our plants by the energy produced from the conversion of wood waste, we also purchase electricity and natural gas. Energy prices have experienced significant volatility in recent years, particularly in deregulated markets. We attempt to mitigate our exposure to energy price changes through the selective use of long-term supply agreements.
Seasonality
Our business is subject to seasonal variances, with demand for many of our products tending to be higher during the building season, which generally occurs in the second and third quarters in North America and the fourth and first quarters in South America. We do this in an effort to better balance our inventory levels with demand, manage the logistics of our product shipments, and allow our production facilities to run efficiently.
Government Regulation
Our operations are subject to the laws and regulations of the United States and multiple foreign jurisdictions. These regulations, which differ among jurisdictions, include those related to financial and other disclosures, accounting standards, corporate governance, intellectual property, tax, trade, antitrust, employment, immigration and travel regulations, privacy, and anti-corruption. Additional information concerning legal and regulatory matters is set forth under “Risk Factors – Legal and Regulatory Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this annual report on Form 10-K.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate could be affected by numerous factors, including changes in applicable tax laws, interpretations of applicable tax laws, the amount and composition of pre-tax income in jurisdictions with differing tax rates, and the valuation of deferred tax assets. Additional information concerning tax matters is set forth under “Risk Factors – Legal and Regulatory Risk Factors - Regulatory and statutory changes applicable to us or our customers, including changes in effective tax rates or tax law, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations ” in Item 1A of this annual report on Form 10-K, and in Note 9 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this annual report on Form 10-K.
Our operations are also subject to many environmental laws and regulations governing, among other things, the discharge of pollutants and other emissions on or into the land, water, and air, the disposal of hazardous substances or other contaminants, the remediation of contamination, and the restoration and reforestation of timberlands. In addition, certain environmental laws and regulations impose liability and responsibility on present and former owners, operators, or users of facilities and sites for contamination at such facilities and sites without regard to causation or knowledge of contamination. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations can significantly increase the costs of our operations. In some cases, plant closures can invoke more rigorous compliance requirements. Violations of environmental laws and regulations can subject us to additional costs and expenses, including defense costs and expenses and civil and criminal penalties. We cannot guarantee that the environmental laws and regulations to which we are subject will not become more stringent or be more stringently implemented or enforced in the future.
Changes in global or regional climate conditions and current or future governmental responses to such changes at the international, U.S. federal, and state levels, such as regulating and/or taxing the production of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” to facilitate the reduction of emissions into the atmosphere, and/or the imposition of taxes or other incentives to produce and use “cleaner” energy, may increase energy costs, limit harvest levels, and impact our operations or our planned or future growth. Because our manufacturing operations depend on significant amounts of energy and raw materials, these initiatives could have an adverse impact on our operations and profitability. Future legislation or regulatory activity in this area remains uncertain, as does the potential impact on our operations.
We are committed to complying with all applicable environmental laws and regulations and intend to devote significant management attention to such matters. In addition, we occasionally undertake construction projects for environmental control equipment or incur other environmental costs that extend an asset’s useful life, improve its
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efficiency, and/or improve the property's marketability.
Additional information concerning environmental matters is set forth under Item 3, Legal Proceedings, and in Note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this annual report on Form 10-K.
Workforce and Employee Relations
Our employees are our most important asset, and they are integral to our ability to achieve our strategic objectives. The continued success and growth of our business depends, in large part, on our ability to attract, retain, and develop a diverse population of talented and high-performing employees at all levels. We have developed key recruitment and retention strategies, objectives, and measures that we focus on as part of the overall management of LP, which will continue to support our efforts to succeed in a competitive labor market. These strategies, objectives, and measures are the basis of our workforce management framework and are advanced through the following programs, policies, and initiatives:
Labor Relations: We are committed to working collaboratively with the unions that represent some of our employees. As of December 31, 2021, we employed approximately 4,800 team members, of which approximately 2,800, 1,200, and 800 were employed in the United States, Canada, and South America, respectively. Approximately 4,200 were employed at manufacturing facilities, and 1,600 team members were subject to collective bargaining agreements and/or national trade union agreements.
Health, Safety, and Wellness: We are committed to the health, safety, and wellness of our employees. Safety is a core principle and key-value at LP, and we safeguard our people, projects, and reputation by maintaining a safety culture that strives to eliminate workplace incidents, risks, and hazards. Our innovative safety and health processes are at the forefront of everything we do. We provide our employees, contractors, and guests with ongoing safety training to ensure that safety policies and procedures are effectively communicated and implemented. We also aim to start every meeting, every mill tour, and every morning at our manufacturing facilities with a message about safety. The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the safety and well-being of our people.
LP is committed to continual improvement of our health and safety performance. We establish internal, annual targets and seek continual safety performance improvements every year. One of the metrics that we carefully track is Total Incident Rate (TIR), a common industry measure of recordable incidents per 100 employees. We have established a targeted TIR of <1.0, which we believe represents industry-leading performance. We use this data to prioritize, manage, and carefully track safety performance at all our facilities and integrate sound safety practices to make a meaningful difference in every facet of our operations. To further enhance our commitment to safety, we have also implemented a Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention program and the tracking of Workplace Incident Reports (WIR). The SIF prevention program is a proactive approach to address the most significant exposures our employees face on the job. WIR tracking reflects the severity and frequency of incidents to monitor our safety performance. The SIF program and WIR tracking enhance hazard recognition and employee engagement and drive our teams to evaluate controls to ensure we are incorporating improved levels of protection whenever possible.
We have a Pandemic Response Team, which is responsible for implementing COVID-19 safety protocols and procedures to protect our employees and the communities in which we operate. We continue to monitor developments and update our practices in response to changes in the COVID-19 workplace safety and health standards established by OSHA, and any additional national or state standards in jurisdictions in which we operate. At this time, it is unclear, among other things, how such standards (including any federal or state vaccine mandates) may impact our workforce. For a detailed discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, see Item 1A, Risk Factors, of this annual report on Form 10-K.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We embrace the diversity of our team members, customers, stakeholders, and consumers, including their unique backgrounds, experiences, thoughts, and talents, and are committed to continued efforts to increase diversity and foster an inclusive workplace. Everyone at LP is valued and appreciated for their distinct contributions to the growth and sustainability of our business. We strive to cultivate a culture and vision that
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supports and enhances our ability to recruit, develop, and retain diverse talent at every level.
Our Human Resources Department and our executive management team provide oversight of our policies, programs, and initiatives focusing on workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion, talent and development, and compensation and benefits, and it is our policy to fully comply with all laws (domestic and foreign) applicable to equal employment opportunity and discrimination in the workplace.
Talent and Development: Our talent strategy is focused on attracting the best talent and recognizing and rewarding their performance while continually developing, engaging, and retaining our employees. We focus on the team member experience, removing barriers to engagement, further modernizing the human relations process, and continually improving the equity and effectiveness of all talent practices.
Our talent development programs provide employees with the resources they need to help achieve their career goals, build management skills, and lead the Company.
Compensation and Benefits: We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs to help meet the needs of our employees and to provide the proper incentives to attract, retain, and motivate them.
While subject to change, our current benefit programs may include, depending on country/region and employment position, stock awards granted pursuant to our stock award plans, awards granted under our annual cash incentive award plan, a 401(k) Plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, family medical leave, paid parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption), employee emergency support fund, tuition assistance, and scholarship programs.
We also provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible, and convenient health and wellness programs. These benefits provide protection and security so employees can have peace of mind concerning events that may impact their financial well-being. In addition, we offer employees the ability to customize benefit options to meet their needs and the needs of their families.
Available Information
We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and from time to time, other documents with the SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public over the internet at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov .
In addition, we will make available our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act through our internet website at http://www.lpcorp.com under the “Investor Relations” tab as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this annual report on Form 10-K.
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Segment and Price Trend Data
The following tables set forth for each of the last three years: (1) our sales volumes, (2) housing starts, and (3) OEE. We consider the following items to be key performance indicators because LP’s management uses these metrics to evaluate our business and trends, measure our performance, and make strategic decisions and believe that the key performance indicators presented provide additional perspective and insights when analyzing our core operating performance. These key performance indicators should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for, or as an alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) financial measures presented herein. These measures may not be comparable to similarly titled performance indicators used by other companies.
In addition, information concerning our: (1) net sales by business segment; (2) profit by business segment; (3) identifiable assets by segment; (4) depreciation and amortization by business segment; (5) capital expenditures by business segment; and (6) geographic segment information, is included in Note 19 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this annual report on Form 10-K.
Sales Volume Information Summary
Year Ended December 31, 2021
Sales Volume Siding OSB EWP South America Total
Siding Solutions (MMSF) 1,621 — — 46 1,667 2021
OSB - Structural Solutions (MMSF) — 1,664 — 615 2,279 Housing starts 1 :
OSB - Commodity (MMSF) — 2,014 — — 2,014 Single-Family 1,123
I-Joist (MMLF) — — 124 — 124 Multi-Family 472
LVL (MCF) — — 6,985 — 6,985 1,595
LSL (MCF) — — 2,004 — 2,004
Year Ended December 31, 2020
Sales Volume Siding OSB EWP South America Total
Siding Solutions (MMSF) 1,393 — — 36 1,429 2020
OSB - Structural Solutions (MMSF) — 1,565 — 688 2,253 Housing starts 1 :
OSB - Commodity (MMSF) — 1,978 — — 1,978 Single-Family 991
I-Joist (MMLF) — — 109 — 109 Multi-Family 389
LVL (MCF) — — 6,957 — 6,957 1,380
LSL (MCF) — — 2,711 — 2,711
Year Ended December 31, 2019
Sales Volume Siding OSB EWP South America Total
Siding Solutions (MMSF) 1,234 — — 31 1,265 2019
OSB - Structural Solutions (MMSF) 3 1,599 19 597 2,218 Housing starts 1 :
OSB - Commodity (MMSF) 47 2,144 17 — 2,208 Single-Family 888
I-Joist (MMLF) — — 98 — 98 Multi-Family 402
LVL (MCF) — — 7,015 — 7,015 1,290
LSL (MCF) — — 3,040 — 3,040
1 Actual U.S. Housing starts data reported by U.S. Census Bureau is based upon information published through January 19, 2022.
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We monitor housing starts, which is a leading external indicator of residential construction in the United States that correlates with the demand for many of our products. We believe that this is a useful measure for evaluating our results and that providing this measure should allow interested persons to more readily compare our sales volume for past and future periods to an external indicator of product demand. Other companies may present housing start data differently, and therefore, as presented by us, our housing start data may not be comparable to similarly titled indicators reported by other companies.
We monitor sales volumes for our products in our Siding, OSB, EWP, and South America segments, which we define as the number of units of our products sold within the applicable period. Evaluating sales volume by product type helps us identify and address changes in product demand, broad market factors that may affect our performance, and opportunities for future growth. It should be noted that other companies may present sales volumes differently, and therefore, as presented by us, sales volumes may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. We believe that sales volumes can be a useful measure for evaluating and understanding our business.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness Summary
Years Ended December 31,
2021 2020 2019
Siding 89 % 89 % 85 %
OSB 83 % 87 % 86 %
EWP 87 % 89 % 81 %
South America 77 % 73 % 76 %
We measure OEE of each of our mills to track improvements in the utilization and productivity of our manufacturing assets. OEE is a composite metric that considers asset uptime (adjusted for capital project downtime and similar events), production rates, and finished product quality. It should be noted that other companies may present OEE differently, and therefore, as presented by us, OEE may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. We believe that when used in conjunction with other metrics, OEE can be a useful measure for evaluating our ability to generate profits, and that providing this measure should allow interested persons to monitor operational improvements.
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