Thank you for the opportunity to present to you this afternoon.
I would like to introduce Gregg Koehler, Sinclar Group's sales manager. He is responsible for our company's logistics, and he will be available to answer any questions you may have following the presentations.
Before jumping into the presentation, I feel it is beneficial that I provide a little background on Sinclar Group Forest Products. The company is a third-generation family business that was started by Ivan Andersen and Bob Stewart 51 years ago. Today that company has varying equity interests in three stud lumber operations: a finger-joint plant, a panelized home manufacturing facility, and a wholesale lumber operation.
All of the operations are located in British Columbia's central interior, from Fort St. James to Prince George. Sinclar Group is a leading distributor of high-quality stud lumber throughout North American and Asian markets.
For the past three years, CN has been our largest non-governmental supplier, averaging just less than $20 million in cost to our company. Approximately 70% of all our products are shipped by rail.
As one last introductory point, I just want to point out that the comments I make pertain to Sinclar Group. I am not intending my comments to represent other organizations or companies impacted by Bill C-52.
Sinclar Group, over its history, has achieved its success through partnerships. The company started as an equity partnership and has since grown to incorporate other partners. From Tl'oh Forest Products, which is a joint venture between Nak'azdli First Nation and us, to the relationship we have with the City of Prince George to supply heat to the city's downtown, our business opportunities have been rooted in openness, collaboration, and innovation from both parties.
The relationship we have established with CN over the past few years has been focused on understanding the needs and looking for opportunities to improve performance of both parties. We have observed a steady improvement in rail service over those years. While we have experienced a few disruptions along the way, we have been able to engage CN to work through the issues. Through these challenges, both parties have been committed to understanding each other's perspectives, and the communication between the companies has significantly improved.
Most recently, we reached an agreement with CN to provide more centre-beam capacity by removing a ramp at the Nechako operation in return for a volume commitment. Currently the two companies are working on building more flexibility into the supply chain by exploring alternative shipping methods, such as intermodal shipments.
In all cases, it starts with communication about the issues and a commitment from both parties to collaboratively work together to find new solutions for the dynamic marketplace.
Over the past four years, Sinclar Group has grown its stud lumber shipments, capturing a greater share of the North American and Asian markets. We were able to achieve record shipments, in part due to the commercial....[Technical difficulty—Editor]