Forecast: US lumber production to hit highest level in almost 20 years

After a year of significant capacity rationalization, what should we expect in 2024? Key prediction indicators show that US sawmill production will hit its highest level since peaking in 2005, marking the second-highest level on record. While 2023 was a challenging environment for mill operators, many sawmills in the US have been able to limp along through this market as Canadian operators took the brunt of the pain, with many of them cash-negative at prevailing dimensional lumber prices. This also explains the wave of Canadian closures we predicted and ultimately saw in 2023. SYP production, which accounts ...