bag grades , papers for directories , paperback books and other commercial applications represent less than 15 % of our shipments . we sell our specialty papers almost exclusively in north america , where demand is largely tied to consumer spending and advertising . we operate seven pulp mills , five in the u.s. and two in canada , with total capacity of 1.7 million metric tons , or approximately 11 % of total north american capacity , making us the third largest pulp producer in north america . approximately 80 % of our virgin pulp capacity is softwood-based , including : northern bleached softwood kraft pulp ( or “ nbsk ” ) , southern bleached softwood kraft pulp ( or “ sbsk ” ) and fluff pulp . we are also a competitive producer of northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp ( or “ nbhk ” ) and southern bleached hardwood kraft pulp ( or “ sbhk ” ) , and a leading producer of recycled bleached kraft pulp ( or “ rbk ” ) . our market pulp - the pulp we produce but do not consume internally - is used to make a range of consumer products , like tissue , packaging , specialty paper products , diapers and other absorbent products . approximately 26 % of our 2014 market pulp shipments were exported outside of north america , including significant exports to europe , asia and latin america . in 2014 , we shipped 1.5 billion board feet of construction-grade lumber and 100 million board feet of remanufactured wood products within north america , mostly on the east coast . our sawmills produce dimension spruce-pine-fir ( or “ spf ” ) lumber and provide wood chips to our pulp and paper mills in canada as well as wood residue that we use as fuel in our power cogeneration assets and other operations . we also operate two remanufactured wood products facilities in canada that produce bed frame components , finger joints and furring strips , and two engineered wood products facilities in canada that produce i-joists for the construction industry . in 2014 , we also launched a wood pellet plant in thunder bay , ontario , which has a ten-year agreement to supply the local power utility with 45,000 metric tons of pellets annually . replace_table_token_6_th strategy & recent highlights our corporate strategy includes , on the one hand , a gradual retreat from certain paper grades , and on the other , using our strong financial position to act on opportunities to diversify and grow . that strategy is based on three core themes : operational excellence , disciplined use of capital and strategic initiatives . operational excellence we aim to improve our performance and margins by : leveraging our lower-cost position ; maintaining a stringent focus on reducing costs and optimizing our diversified asset base ; maximizing the benefits of our access to virgin fiber and managing our exposure to volatile recycled fiber ; and pursuing our strategy of managing production and inventory levels and focusing production at our most profitable and lower-cost facilities and machines . we compete today as a leading , lower-cost north american producer , thanks to aggressive cost reductions and mill optimization . we believe we have one of the lowest selling , general and administrative expenses ( or “ sg & a ” ) to sales ratio in the forest product industry . 22 we have reduced a number of positions at mill sites since 2012 , without affecting operating capacity , which has significantly lowered our labor costs . we worked with our unionized employees and their union leaders toward the mutually beneficial renewal of our u.s. and canadian pulp and paper collective agreements earlier this year . by working together with the shared goals of resolute 's long-term success , we helped to reinforce our position as a financially strong and reliable supplier for our customers . maintaining our lower-cost position is a core focus of our daily environment : we challenge ourselves to optimize assets , to lower our costs and to improve our efficiency . today we operate only our best facilities and most competitive machines . disciplined use of capital we make capital management a priority . building on our focus to reduce manufacturing costs , we will continue our efforts to decrease overhead and spend our capital in a disciplined , strategic and focused manner , concentrated on our most successful sites . maintaining our strong financial position and financial flexibility is one of our primary financial goals . in 2013 , we refinanced the remaining balance of our senior secured notes with 5.875 % senior unsecured notes due 2023 ( the “ 2023 notes ” ) . in addition to adding five years to maturity , the refinancing reduced our annual cash interest burden by $ 16 million and improves our financial flexibility . in 2014 , we modified our u.s. other postretirement benefit ( or “ opeb ” ) plans to encourage greater participation in a medicare exchange program . in addition to securing high-quality healthcare for participants , this modification , along with similar initiatives undertaken since mid-2013 , helped to reduce our u.s. opeb liability on the balance sheet from $ 250 million to $ 77 million as of december 31 , 2014. furthermore , in 2015 , we expect that our opeb expense will be $ 26 million lower than in 2012 , as a result of these amendments . strategic initiatives we believe in taking an opportunistic approach to strategic initiatives , pursuing only those that reduce our cost position , improve our product diversification , provide synergies or allow us to expand into future growth markets . we anticipate continued consolidation in the paper and forest products industry , as we and our competitors continue to explore ways to increase efficiencies and grow into more favorable markets . story_separator_special_tag we recorded a $ 524 million income tax provision in 2013 , on a loss before income taxes of $ 115 million , compared to an expected income tax benefit of $ 40 million based on the u.s. federal statutory income tax rate of 35 % . the difference largely reflects a net valuation allowance increase of $ 572 million , most of which relates to a charge recorded to establish a full valuation allowance against our net u.s. deferred income tax assets . some of our canadian subsidiaries , including our principal canadian operating subsidiary , use the u.s. dollar as functional currency but determine taxable income in canadian dollars . this can cause frequent and substantial variations to our effective tax rate when compared to the weighted-average of both domestic and foreign statutory tax rates . this is because we compute the foreign exchange component of the income tax provision of our canadian subsidiaries on a different basis than in our consolidated financial statements . due to the unpredictability of foreign exchange rates , we are unable to estimate the impact of future changes in exchange rates on our effective tax rate . q4 of 2014 vs. q4 of 2013 operating ( loss ) income variance analysis sales our sales were $ 95 million lower , or 8 % , this quarter , at $ 1,055 million . including the effect of currency , overall pricing fell by $ 23 million because of a 5 % drop in the average transaction price for newsprint and 3 % for specialty papers , offset only in part by a 3 % improvement in the average transaction price of market pulp . the overall volume was also lower , reflecting a 16 % reduction in market pulp shipments , 6 % in specialty papers and 3 % in newsprint ; wood products shipments were 10 million board feet , or 3 % , higher . the lower pulp shipments reflect greater internal consumption , the production slowback in rbk and a shipment delay at year-end . 33 cost of sales , excluding depreciation , amortization and distribution costs cos improved by $ 83 million in the quarter because of the lower volume and the weaker canadian dollar , as a significant portion of our production capacity is based in canada . excluding these impacts , manufacturing costs were $ 12 million lower , reflecting : asset optimization initiatives ( $ 14 million ) ; lower pension and opeb expenses ( $ 8 million ) ; and the recognition of additional tax credits in connection with infrastructure investments ( $ 7 million ) ; offset in part by : higher wood costs and lower contribution from cogeneration facilities ( $ 7 million ) ; a favorable power adjustment in the year-ago period ( $ 4 million ) ; and asset preservation costs at our closed fort frances facility and additional stores inventory write-downs in connection with mill closures , as well as higher start-up costs ( $ 4 million ) . distribution costs after removing the effect of lower volume , distribution costs were $ 3 million higher because of warehousing and freight costs in the specialty papers segment and an increase in the average length of haul in the specialty papers and market pulp segment , partly offset by lower fuel surcharges . selling , general & administrative expenses sg & a was $ 3 million lower in the quarter , primarily because of a group insurance refund . closure costs , impairment and other related charges closure costs , impairment and other related charges were $ 131 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , reflecting : $ 57 million of accelerated depreciation , $ 9 million for severance and other termination benefits and $ 8 million for other closure costs , including environmental remediation obligations , in connection with the permanent closure of our iroquois falls , ontario , mill in the fourth quarter ; $ 32 million of accelerated depreciation and $ 4 million for other closure costs in connection with the permanent closure of our laurentide , québec , mill ; and $ 4 million of idling and cleaning costs as well as severance charges at our fort frances mill ; by comparison , we recorded $ 33 million in the same period in 2013 , reflecting costs and charges related to the extended market-related outage at the remaining paper machine in fort frances and the impairment of our recycling assets . net loss variance analysis net loss was $ 109 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , or $ 1.15 per share , compared to a net loss of $ 3 million , or $ 0.03 per share , in the year-ago period . other expense , net we recorded other expense , net , of $ 25 million in the quarter , compared to other expense , net , of $ 20 million in the year-ago period . this quarter included an $ 18 million non-cash loss on translation of canadian dollar net monetary assets and an $ 11 million write-down of our investment in ponderay newsprint company . the $ 20 million other expense , net , in the year-ago period included a $ 15 million non-cash loss on the translation of canadian dollar net monetary assets . income taxes we recorded an income tax benefit of $ 22 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , on a loss before income taxes of $ 130 million , compared to an expected income tax benefit of $ 45 million based on the u.s. federal statutory income tax rate of 35 % . the difference reflects the unfavorable effects of foreign exchange related items and a net increase in valuation allowances , primarily related to our u.s. operations , where we no longer recognize deferred income tax assets , partly offset by a tax benefit 34 recognized on the reversal of our valuation allowance

cash used in investing activities we used $ 151 million in investing activities in 2013 , $ 76 million higher than in 2012. other than the $ 8 million decrease in cash invested in fixed assets , the difference is almost entirely due to net favorable items in 2012 , including : a decrease in restricted cash due to the release of a tax indemnity given in connection with the sale of our interest in manicouagan power company in 2009 ( $ 76 million ) ; and the proceeds from disposition of timberlands in nova scotia ( $ 24 million ) ; partially offset by : the cash portion of the consideration paid for the acquisition of fibrek ( $ 24 million , net of cash acquired ) . 59 cash provided by ( used in ) financing activities financing activities provided $ 4 million in 2013 , compared to a use of $ 297 in 2012 , for a $ 301 million difference . in 2013 , we received proceeds of $ 594 million in connection with the issuance of the 2023 notes , which we used to repurchase $ 501 million of the outstanding 2018 notes and to pay $ 84 million as a tender offer premium . we also paid financing and credit facility fees of $ 9 million . we also received an $ 8 million payment from our former joint venture partner in cnc in connection with our acquisition of their interest . in 2012 , we paid $ 27 million in cash as part of the consideration to acquire shares of the noncontrolling interest in fibrek , we repaid its debt ( $ 112 million ) , we repurchased 5.6 million of our own shares under our share repurchase program ( $ 67 million ) and we redeemed $ 85 million of our 2018 notes .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash used in investing activities we used $ 151 million in investing activities in 2013 , $ 76 million higher than in 2012. other than the $ 8 million decrease in cash invested in fixed assets , the difference is almost entirely due to net favorable items in 2012 , including : a decrease in restricted cash due to the release of a tax indemnity given in connection with the sale of our interest in manicouagan power company in 2009 ( $ 76 million ) ; and the proceeds from disposition of timberlands in nova scotia ( $ 24 million ) ; partially offset by : the cash portion of the consideration paid for the acquisition of fibrek ( $ 24 million , net of cash acquired ) . 59 cash provided by ( used in ) financing activities financing activities provided $ 4 million in 2013 , compared to a use of $ 297 in 2012 , for a $ 301 million difference . in 2013 , we received proceeds of $ 594 million in connection with the issuance of the 2023 notes , which we used to repurchase $ 501 million of the outstanding 2018 notes and to pay $ 84 million as a tender offer premium . we also paid financing and credit facility fees of $ 9 million . we also received an $ 8 million payment from our former joint venture partner in cnc in connection with our acquisition of their interest . in 2012 , we paid $ 27 million in cash as part of the consideration to acquire shares of the noncontrolling interest in fibrek , we repaid its debt ( $ 112 million ) , we repurchased 5.6 million of our own shares under our share repurchase program ( $ 67 million ) and we redeemed $ 85 million of our 2018 notes .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : bag grades , papers for directories , paperback books and other commercial applications represent less than 15 % of our shipments . we sell our specialty papers almost exclusively in north america , where demand is largely tied to consumer spending and advertising . we operate seven pulp mills , five in the u.s. and two in canada , with total capacity of 1.7 million metric tons , or approximately 11 % of total north american capacity , making us the third largest pulp producer in north america . approximately 80 % of our virgin pulp capacity is softwood-based , including : northern bleached softwood kraft pulp ( or “ nbsk ” ) , southern bleached softwood kraft pulp ( or “ sbsk ” ) and fluff pulp . we are also a competitive producer of northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp ( or “ nbhk ” ) and southern bleached hardwood kraft pulp ( or “ sbhk ” ) , and a leading producer of recycled bleached kraft pulp ( or “ rbk ” ) . our market pulp - the pulp we produce but do not consume internally - is used to make a range of consumer products , like tissue , packaging , specialty paper products , diapers and other absorbent products . approximately 26 % of our 2014 market pulp shipments were exported outside of north america , including significant exports to europe , asia and latin america . in 2014 , we shipped 1.5 billion board feet of construction-grade lumber and 100 million board feet of remanufactured wood products within north america , mostly on the east coast . our sawmills produce dimension spruce-pine-fir ( or “ spf ” ) lumber and provide wood chips to our pulp and paper mills in canada as well as wood residue that we use as fuel in our power cogeneration assets and other operations . we also operate two remanufactured wood products facilities in canada that produce bed frame components , finger joints and furring strips , and two engineered wood products facilities in canada that produce i-joists for the construction industry . in 2014 , we also launched a wood pellet plant in thunder bay , ontario , which has a ten-year agreement to supply the local power utility with 45,000 metric tons of pellets annually . replace_table_token_6_th strategy & recent highlights our corporate strategy includes , on the one hand , a gradual retreat from certain paper grades , and on the other , using our strong financial position to act on opportunities to diversify and grow . that strategy is based on three core themes : operational excellence , disciplined use of capital and strategic initiatives . operational excellence we aim to improve our performance and margins by : leveraging our lower-cost position ; maintaining a stringent focus on reducing costs and optimizing our diversified asset base ; maximizing the benefits of our access to virgin fiber and managing our exposure to volatile recycled fiber ; and pursuing our strategy of managing production and inventory levels and focusing production at our most profitable and lower-cost facilities and machines . we compete today as a leading , lower-cost north american producer , thanks to aggressive cost reductions and mill optimization . we believe we have one of the lowest selling , general and administrative expenses ( or “ sg & a ” ) to sales ratio in the forest product industry . 22 we have reduced a number of positions at mill sites since 2012 , without affecting operating capacity , which has significantly lowered our labor costs . we worked with our unionized employees and their union leaders toward the mutually beneficial renewal of our u.s. and canadian pulp and paper collective agreements earlier this year . by working together with the shared goals of resolute 's long-term success , we helped to reinforce our position as a financially strong and reliable supplier for our customers . maintaining our lower-cost position is a core focus of our daily environment : we challenge ourselves to optimize assets , to lower our costs and to improve our efficiency . today we operate only our best facilities and most competitive machines . disciplined use of capital we make capital management a priority . building on our focus to reduce manufacturing costs , we will continue our efforts to decrease overhead and spend our capital in a disciplined , strategic and focused manner , concentrated on our most successful sites . maintaining our strong financial position and financial flexibility is one of our primary financial goals . in 2013 , we refinanced the remaining balance of our senior secured notes with 5.875 % senior unsecured notes due 2023 ( the “ 2023 notes ” ) . in addition to adding five years to maturity , the refinancing reduced our annual cash interest burden by $ 16 million and improves our financial flexibility . in 2014 , we modified our u.s. other postretirement benefit ( or “ opeb ” ) plans to encourage greater participation in a medicare exchange program . in addition to securing high-quality healthcare for participants , this modification , along with similar initiatives undertaken since mid-2013 , helped to reduce our u.s. opeb liability on the balance sheet from $ 250 million to $ 77 million as of december 31 , 2014. furthermore , in 2015 , we expect that our opeb expense will be $ 26 million lower than in 2012 , as a result of these amendments . strategic initiatives we believe in taking an opportunistic approach to strategic initiatives , pursuing only those that reduce our cost position , improve our product diversification , provide synergies or allow us to expand into future growth markets . we anticipate continued consolidation in the paper and forest products industry , as we and our competitors continue to explore ways to increase efficiencies and grow into more favorable markets . story_separator_special_tag we recorded a $ 524 million income tax provision in 2013 , on a loss before income taxes of $ 115 million , compared to an expected income tax benefit of $ 40 million based on the u.s. federal statutory income tax rate of 35 % . the difference largely reflects a net valuation allowance increase of $ 572 million , most of which relates to a charge recorded to establish a full valuation allowance against our net u.s. deferred income tax assets . some of our canadian subsidiaries , including our principal canadian operating subsidiary , use the u.s. dollar as functional currency but determine taxable income in canadian dollars . this can cause frequent and substantial variations to our effective tax rate when compared to the weighted-average of both domestic and foreign statutory tax rates . this is because we compute the foreign exchange component of the income tax provision of our canadian subsidiaries on a different basis than in our consolidated financial statements . due to the unpredictability of foreign exchange rates , we are unable to estimate the impact of future changes in exchange rates on our effective tax rate . q4 of 2014 vs. q4 of 2013 operating ( loss ) income variance analysis sales our sales were $ 95 million lower , or 8 % , this quarter , at $ 1,055 million . including the effect of currency , overall pricing fell by $ 23 million because of a 5 % drop in the average transaction price for newsprint and 3 % for specialty papers , offset only in part by a 3 % improvement in the average transaction price of market pulp . the overall volume was also lower , reflecting a 16 % reduction in market pulp shipments , 6 % in specialty papers and 3 % in newsprint ; wood products shipments were 10 million board feet , or 3 % , higher . the lower pulp shipments reflect greater internal consumption , the production slowback in rbk and a shipment delay at year-end . 33 cost of sales , excluding depreciation , amortization and distribution costs cos improved by $ 83 million in the quarter because of the lower volume and the weaker canadian dollar , as a significant portion of our production capacity is based in canada . excluding these impacts , manufacturing costs were $ 12 million lower , reflecting : asset optimization initiatives ( $ 14 million ) ; lower pension and opeb expenses ( $ 8 million ) ; and the recognition of additional tax credits in connection with infrastructure investments ( $ 7 million ) ; offset in part by : higher wood costs and lower contribution from cogeneration facilities ( $ 7 million ) ; a favorable power adjustment in the year-ago period ( $ 4 million ) ; and asset preservation costs at our closed fort frances facility and additional stores inventory write-downs in connection with mill closures , as well as higher start-up costs ( $ 4 million ) . distribution costs after removing the effect of lower volume , distribution costs were $ 3 million higher because of warehousing and freight costs in the specialty papers segment and an increase in the average length of haul in the specialty papers and market pulp segment , partly offset by lower fuel surcharges . selling , general & administrative expenses sg & a was $ 3 million lower in the quarter , primarily because of a group insurance refund . closure costs , impairment and other related charges closure costs , impairment and other related charges were $ 131 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , reflecting : $ 57 million of accelerated depreciation , $ 9 million for severance and other termination benefits and $ 8 million for other closure costs , including environmental remediation obligations , in connection with the permanent closure of our iroquois falls , ontario , mill in the fourth quarter ; $ 32 million of accelerated depreciation and $ 4 million for other closure costs in connection with the permanent closure of our laurentide , québec , mill ; and $ 4 million of idling and cleaning costs as well as severance charges at our fort frances mill ; by comparison , we recorded $ 33 million in the same period in 2013 , reflecting costs and charges related to the extended market-related outage at the remaining paper machine in fort frances and the impairment of our recycling assets . net loss variance analysis net loss was $ 109 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , or $ 1.15 per share , compared to a net loss of $ 3 million , or $ 0.03 per share , in the year-ago period . other expense , net we recorded other expense , net , of $ 25 million in the quarter , compared to other expense , net , of $ 20 million in the year-ago period . this quarter included an $ 18 million non-cash loss on translation of canadian dollar net monetary assets and an $ 11 million write-down of our investment in ponderay newsprint company . the $ 20 million other expense , net , in the year-ago period included a $ 15 million non-cash loss on the translation of canadian dollar net monetary assets . income taxes we recorded an income tax benefit of $ 22 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 , on a loss before income taxes of $ 130 million , compared to an expected income tax benefit of $ 45 million based on the u.s. federal statutory income tax rate of 35 % . the difference reflects the unfavorable effects of foreign exchange related items and a net increase in valuation allowances , primarily related to our u.s. operations , where we no longer recognize deferred income tax assets , partly offset by a tax benefit 34 recognized on the reversal of our valuation allowance

