Construction News

International Paper Co.'s chief executive received compensation valued at nearly $10.7 million in 2007, when the Memphis-based company saw a decline in demand for its paper and wood products in North America, a ... via The Tennessean

Japanese stocks extended losses Wednesday as traders sold property and construction shares because of bleak sentiment over the struggling housing market. via PR-inside.com

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission wants architects to jazz up the outside appearance of the $290 million arena they're designing for the Pittsburgh Penguins. via WTKT-AM Harrisburg

“We have significantly increased our merchantable timber and have achieved greater scale in the Northwest”

Puget Sound Business Journal Florida forest products company Rayonier Inc. said it's completed its purchase of 56,300 acres of timberland in Pacific County in Southwest Washington for $213.4 million. via Seattle Business Journal

“Our customers benefit from having access to financing and services that no other biodiesel equipment provider can offer.”

Greenline Industries, Inc. the EPA Award winning leader in the design and construction of biodiesel production facilities, today announced the successful completion of a $20 million Series A preferred stock ... via Freshnews

“Due to uncertainty in the foreign exchange market and procurement situation, the outlook for the shipbuilding business is not rosy.”

Japanese heavy machinery makers IHI Corp. and JFE Holdings Inc. said Tuesday they have agreed to begin concrete talks on merging their shipbuilding subsidiaries, a move that would create Japan's biggest ... via International Business Times

“We will of course co-operate fully with the Ofgem investigation.”

The owner of Ferrybridge Power Station in West Yorkshire is one of two companies facing an investigation after the energy regulator promised to look at a complaint alleging abuse of a dominant market position. via Yorkshire Post

Lennar Corp.'s chief executive was promised more than $11 million in compensation in 2007 but forfeited $9.95 million of it because the homebuilder failed to meet financial goals amid the troubled housing market, an Associated Press analysis of company filings showed.

CEO Stuart Miller received $1 million in salary and $130,397 in other compensation that included $96,000 in dividends, $26,547 in car lease payments, a $6,750 matching payment for his 401(k) and $1,100 in life and disability insurance, according to the company's proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read more

- Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP) has announced new cuts in B.C. lumber production.

Canfor said Tuesday it will trim workweeks at a number of operations, and its PG sawmill will move to two shifts from three while the Clear Lake finger joint operation will slow to one shift from two.

The moves are caused by "continued falling demand and poor pricing for softwood lumber with no indications of a market recovery in the near future," the company stated.

Canfor did not specify how many workers are affected but said the decision will reduce its annualized lumber production by 600 million board feet. Read more

The Wall Street Journal reported today that federal prosecutors are pressuring Warren Buffett to replace the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s reinsurance division. via Omaha World-Herald

“A company like ours - whose DNA is Indian, whose character is Indian, who wants to become an Indian multinational - well, if this succeeds, it's a sign that Indian business in general has what it takes to succeed”

"I've been to your dealerships and seen all your manuals," he told Mr. Mahindra, whose Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. via Globeinvestor.com

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Carl Icahn”

Motorola, Inc. and Carl Icahn today announced that they have reached an agreement under which William R. Hambrecht, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of WR Hambrecht + Co. via Mobile Burn

“Our Canadian leadership team has made this decision in order to better leverage our product and service offerings to our customers”

Apr 4, 2008 6:39 PM Mississauga, Ontario-based Ontrac Equipment Services last week announced that it will change its corporate name to Nortrax Canada. via Rental Equipment Register

“These measures are particularly important at bridge projects.”

General contractor Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc. will pay $100,000 to settle charges that it violated state water pollution laws during construction work on a Rock County bridge project in 2005 and 2006, the ... via Business Journal Milwaukee

“In addition, the companies face the additional risks of potential labour disruptions, higher than expected cost increases associated with energy and energy related cost inputs and refinancing challenges in 2009.”

- Debt rating agency DBRS downgraded its ratings for the companies that make up AbitibiBowater Inc. (TSX:ABH) on Friday due to the relative strength of the loonie and deterioration of North American newsprint markets.

The agency, which had placed its company "under review with negative implications" last July, lowered its ratings on Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., Abitibi-Consolidated Company of Canada, Bowater Inc. and Bowater Canadian Forest Products Inc. from BB (low) to B with a "negative" trend. Read more

“This expertise will now be combined with Macfarlan's financial strength and entrepreneurial spirit to create some of the most desirable vacation destinations in the country. We intend to take these remarkable properties and make them even better.”

Macfarlan Capital Partners LP has acquired two Austin-area resort communities as part of a five-property deal. via Austin Business Journal

The Shaw Group Incorporated said today that it has reached an agreement with South Carolina Electric and Gas Company that could result in up to two new nuclear units for the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in ... via WLOX-TV Biloxi

“With the $9.7 million recovery and the millions in construction payments we withheld from MasTec, we have substantially achieved our goal.”

MasTec Inc., the contractor hired to build a gas pipeline from Roseburg to Coquille and later fired, has agreed to pay Coos County $8.7 million to settle litigation that arose from a dispute over workmanship.

Cost overruns and damage to pristine streams and rivers plagued the taxpayer-funded project that eventually provided natural gas to what had been the largest metropolitan area in the West without it.

Coos County terminated its contract with the Miami-based company in April 2004, and an Oregon firm finished the project later that year. Read more

“In the face of continuous misleading allegations, the mayor's office steadfastly refutes any claims that outside influences have any impact whatsoever on decisions regarding the awarding of city contracts.”

Two construction executives said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and other city officials pressured them to hire a friend of the mayor to work on restoring a downtown hotel, despite their misgivings about his experience.

Bobby Ferguson of Ferguson Enterprises Inc. landed a $7 million contract to do interior demolition and asbestos removal on the Book Cadillac hotel restoration project in 2003.

Paul Lemley and Pete Gass of Alberici Constructors, a St. Louis-based firm hired to renovate the long-vacant hotel, told the Detroit Free Press they believed he was hired to avoid problems with the city. Read more

What's claimed to be the world's first reference design for a combined satellite/terrestrial wireless handset was rolled out by Elektrobit Corp. via EETimes