Lumber production in Canada fell -18.6 per cent in December 2017 from November, with sawmills producing 4,827 thousand cubic metres of lumber, said Statistics Canada Thursday. Declines in production during this reference period are common due to the holiday season. Production was -0.8 per cent lower than in December 2016.
Sawmills shipped 4,812 thousand cubic metres of lumber in December, down -14.9 per cent from November and -2.8 per cent lower than in December 2016.
In separate data released by Statistics Canada Wednesday, exports of forestry products and building and packaging materials declined -6.6 per cent to $3.4 billion in January, on lower exports of lumber and other sawmill and millwork products, down -14.5 per cent. This decrease occurred as the US Department of Commerce resumed collecting import duties on Canadian lumber in late December 2017.