Profile 2009: softwood sawmills in the United States and Canada

Abstract

The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of any product or service.The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. The Canadian capacity went from 88.2 million m 3 to 71.6 million m 3 , a loss of 19%, while the U.S. capacity dropped from 102.6 million m 3 to 94.8 million m 3 , a loss of 8%. These losses are attributable to three unprofitable years of sawmilling caused by the contraction in construction. Construction and repair and remodeling of homes each accounted for about 35% of total lumber consumption in 2006. Their downturn has caused demand to lag substantially behind the capacity that was built up to supply the prior boom. The greater drop in Canadian capacity can be deduced from a number of factors including the imposition of tariffs of up to 15% on exports to the U.S. and the strengthening of the Canadian dollar. Based on underlying population growth, the demand for home building is expected to rebound but somewhat slowly until the overhang of unoccupied homes built in the former building surge is absorbed. Further attrition of capacity is likely, as profitability is unlikely to return until a combination of recovering demand and contracting supply due to further capacity attrition equalize in the market.

Sustaining Working Rangelands: Insights from Rancher Decision Making

“…Timber production in California had stabilized in the early part of the last decade but has experienced a significant decline in the last few years ( (Spelter et al, 2009). In California, the loss in capacity during this time was 25 percent.…”

Using a Standing-Tree Acoustic Tool to Identify Forest Stands for the Production of Mechanically-Graded Lumber

“…The boreal forest zone of northeastern North America is a major source of softwood lumber for both domestic and export markets [1]. However, wood processing industries in the region have been severely affected by the recent global economic downturn and the resulting fall in demand for structural wood products [1,2].…”

“…However, wood processing industries in the region have been severely affected by the recent global economic downturn and the resulting fall in demand for structural wood products [1,2]. In remote areas (e.g., northern Quebec, Canada), the situation has been exacerbated by high harvesting and transport costs, which have increased the pressure to add value to the existing resource [3,4].…”

California's forest products industry and timber harvest, 2012

“…Capacity for 2012 was developed from the FIDACS census of California's forest products industry. Capacity for previous years was estimated from previous industry censuses (Howard and Ward 1991, Morgan et al 2004, Ward 1995 and for intervening years based on reported mill closures, openings, and expansions (Ehinger 2012, Random Lengths 1976-2013, Spelter et al 2009). …”