New data this week out of Statistics Canada, on Canadian softwood lumber production and sawmill sales, as well as from the US Department of Commerce, on US coniferous wood imports and exports, give an excellent update to the economic state of the North American forest products industry for 1Q 2017.
According to figures Wednesday from the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service, the USA imported 8.5 million cubic metres of softwood lumber from Canada in 1 Q 2017, a 16 per cent reduction against last year’s volume in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, sawmills in the western US produced 4.5 billion board ft. (bbf) of softwood lumber in the first four months of 2017, a decline of 3.2 per cent from 4.7 bbf in the same period last year, according to the data released also Wednesday by the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) of Portland, OR.
In April alone, sawmills in the US West produced 1.1 bbf of lumber, down 6.9 per cent from 1.2 bbf in April 2016, and down 13.8 per cent from 1.2 bbf in March 2017, said WWPA.
US Coniferous Sawn Wood Imports and Exports: April 2017
According to figures from the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service, the USA imported 8.5 million cubic metres of softwood lumber from Canada, which amounts to a 16 per cent reduction against last year’s volume in the first quarter.
While January’s import volume was slightly higher year-over-year at 1.6 per cent, reductions of 30 per cent and almost 15 per cent were recorded in February and March, respectively.
The value of Canadian softwood lumber rose by 15 per cent to US$1.418 billion, and the value per unit rose to 36 per cent to US$167.7/cubic metre.
On the export side, the USA’s softwood lumber exports totalled 782,448 cubic metres for the first quarter, or 4 per cent below the figure recorded in the first quarter of last year.
DROP IN US LUMBER EXPORTS TO ASIA
EUWID attributes this drop to the 18 per cent reduction in lumber exports to Asia, which includes a 15 per cent reduction in exports to China and a 23 per cent reduction in exports to Japan. South American exports rose by 10 per cent over the same period, while Canadian exports rose by 6 per cent.
US WESTERN SAWMILL PRODUCTION
Sawmills in the western U.S. produced 4.5 billion board feet (bbf) of softwood lumber in the first four months of 2017, a decline of 3.2 per cent from 4.7 bbf in the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) of Portland, OR.
In April alone, sawmills in the US West produced 1.1 bbf of lumber, down 6.9 per cent from 1.2 bbf in April 2016, and down 13.8 per cent from 1.3 bbf in March 2017