North American lumber production is 20% below last year’s rate, according to industry newsletter Random Lengths.
A production of 27.5 billion board feet has been recorded in the first two quarters of 2008, with second quarter output reaching 13.9 billion board feet – the lowest quarterly total since 1985.
British Columbia saw the biggest decline, with volumes down by 25% to 6.3 billion board feet. But the province still provided more than half of Canada’s lumber output and 23% of North American output in the first two quarters.
The US South accounted for 49% of US production and 27% of North American output.
