US #softwood #lumber production dropped remarkably from last month, shrinking by -15 per cent in September compared to the month prior and dropping -1.1 per cent from August 2017, according to statistics from the Western Wood Products Association’s Lumber Track, released Wednesday. US lumber production totalled 2,724 million board feet (MMBF) in September compared to 3,202 MMBF in August. For the first nine months of 2018, US lumber production totalled 26,614 MMBF, a +4.3 per cent improvement over the same period in 2017. For January to September 2018, US production in the West jumped another +5.4 per cent over previous gains in the preceding months, while output in the South continued it’s increases, this time by +3.5 per cent.

Elsewhere, #softwood #lumber production in Canada dropped still more, by another -1.5 per cent compared to the first nine months of 2017, said the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track Tuesday, at 21,044 million board feet versus 21,374 million in January to August the previous year.

However, in British Columbia lumber production, fully half of the Canada total, fell yet more, by -3.2 per cent for January to September 2018, to 9,509 million board feet, from 9,820 million the previous year, while that of Quebec and Alberta combined stayed essentially flat again, at -0.2 per cent, to 11,535 million board feet this year compared to 11,554 million in the first nine months of 2017.

Canada and US Sawmill Capacity Utilization Rates: September 2018

The Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track, released Wednesday puts Canadian lumber production as a percent of practical capacity for January to September 2018 down once again, by -1% compared to the same time in 2017, at 89% from 90%.

In September 2018, Canadian #sawmill were operating at 95% of capacity, compared to 81% in August 2018 and 94% in September 2017.

In the US meanwhile, sawmill capacity utilization rates improved again by +2%, to 87%, in the first nine months of 2018 compared to the same time the previous year. In September 2018, sawmills in the US operated at 90% of capacity, compared to 87% in August 2018 and 88% in September 2017, said the WWPA.