Feb 21, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. The weak U.S. housing market pushed lumber producer West Fraser Timber into a 4Q loss, but the pain was eased slightly by tax-related gain, Reuters informed. West Fraser had a net loss of $3 million in the quarter. It recorded a income tax recovery gain of $67 million in the period and its operating loss was $64 million. That compared with a net profit of $296 million, or $6.87 per share, in the same quarter a year earlier, during which the company's results were boosted by a repayment of duties after the settlement of the U.S.-Canada lumber trade fight. "We are obviously experiencing a very severe down cycle with a combination of the collapse of the U.S. housing market and a very strong Canadian dollar," chief executive Hank Ketcham said in a statement. Weak lumber markets hit both its Canadian and U.S. sawmills, but pulp operations remained strong. West Fraser is an integrated wood products company producing lumber, wood chips, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp, linerboard, kraft paper and newsprint.