BC export of forest products by value are up 0.4 per cent for 2017 year-to-date September compared to the same period in 2016 ($10.49 billion vs. $10.45), said the Competitiveness and Innovation Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development Monday. Exports of softwood lumber by value is down -5 per cent, while volumes are down -15 per cent.
BC SOFTWOOD LUMBER EXPORTS
BC export of forest products by value are up 0.4 per cent for 2017 year-to-date September compared to the same period in 2016 ($10.49 billion vs. $10.45), said the Competitiveness and Innovation Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development Monday. Exports of softwood lumber by value is down -5 per cent, while volumes are down -15 per cent.
Canada-US Softwood Lumber Production Aug 2017: WWPA
US sawmills produced 22.721 billion board ft. (bbf) of softwood lumber in the first eight months of 2017, a 3.2 per cent increase from 22.019 bbf in the previous year, according to the Western Wood Products Association’s latest Lumber Track report Wednesday.
For their part, sawmills in Canada produced 19.037 billion board ft. (bbf) of softwood lumber in January to August this year, a 1.1 per cent increase from 18.898 bbf for the same time in 2016. Apparent US softwood lumber consumption in the first eight months of 2017 was 31.979 bbf, down 0.4 per cent from 32.101 bbf in the same period last year. In August alone, consumption was 3.992 bbf, a drop of 3.5 per cent from last year’s 4.136 bbf, but up 5 per cent from the previous month’s volume of 3.804 bbf.
North American Sawmill Capacity Utilization
Elsewhere, rates of production as percent of practical capacity for North American sawmills in the US in January to August 2017 stayed flat from last month, at 86%. This compared to 86% the previous year and 86% for full year 2016, according to the latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s latest Lumber Track Wednesday.
Capacity utilization at Canadian sawmills for the first eight months of this year meanwhile dropped to 88% from 90% one year ago.