Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Falling Loonie Boost for Catalyst

As the Canadian dollar is falling to almost a two-year low, Catalyst Paper, one the Alberni Valley's largest producers of jobs, is riding a bit of a high. 
As of Monday morning, the Canadian dollar is trading at 95.04 cents U.S., down 0.60 of a cent from Friday's close against the U.S. greenback. 
It is the lowest the loonie has traded at since October 2011.
And while a drop like that can be painful in the stock market, it is a big money maker for parts of the local industry that manufacture in Canadian dollars, but sell in American. 
"It's good for us," said Catalyst CEO Kevin Clarke, who is stepping down at the end of the month. "Every cent it weakens against the U.S. dollar, because we sell everything in U.S. dollars, is a positive on a weighted average base of about between six and seven million dollars a year."