US sawmills produce 8.557 bbf of softwood lumber in first three months of 2018, up 2.7% year-over-year, while output by Canadian mills drops 2.4% to 7.074; production by sawmills in British Columbia in March at 1.073 bbf is down 10.4% from last year.
U.S. sawmills produced 8.557 billion board ft. (bbf) of softwood lumber in the first three months of 2018, an increase of 2.7% from 8.333 bbf in the previous year, the Western Wood Products Assn. (WWPA) reported in its latest Lumber Track report.
Of the three-month total, Western U.S. sawmills accounted for 3.688 bbf, up 7.7% from 3.424 bbf a year earlier, while Southern sawmills contributed 4.466 bbf – down 1.1% from 4.517 bbf last year.
In March alone, U.S. sawmills produced 2.915 bbf, a year-over-year drop of 2.4% from 2.987 bbf. Compared with February’s output of 2.725 bbf, production in March was up 7.0%.
Western sawmills contributed 1.262 bbf to March’s production volume, up 0.7% from 1.254 bbf in March 2017, and up 9.1% from February’s output of 1.157 bbf.
Southern sawmills produced 1.516 bbf in March, down 4.8% from 1.593 bbf a year earlier, but up 5.3% from the 1.440 bbf produced in February.
Apparent U.S. softwood lumber consumption was 11.496 bbf in the first three months of 2018, down 4.1% from 11.986 bbf in the same period last year. Consumption in March was 4.005 bbf, a drop of 5.6% from 4.242 bbf in the previous year, but up 11.4% from 3.594 bbf in February 2018.
Canadian softwood lumber production/consumption
Canadian sawmills produced 7.074 bbf in the first three months, a 2.4% decline from 7.249 bbf a year earlier. Sawmills in British Columbia accounted for 3.137 bbf of the three-month total, down 5.8% from 3.331 bbf a year earlier, while sawmills east of the Rockies contributed 3.937 bbf, a 0.5% gain from 3.918 bbf in the same period of 2017.
In March, Canadian production was 2.448 bbf, down 4.9% from 2.575 bbf in March 2017, but up 11.3% from 2.200 bbf in February 2018.
Sawmills in British Columbia contributed 1.073 bbf to March’s output, a 10.4% year-over-year drop from 1.198 bbf, but up 13.2% from 948 million board ft. (mmbf) in February.
Sawmills east of the Rockies produced 1.375 bbf in March, down 0.2% from 1.377 bbf in March 2017, but up 9.9% from the previous month’s output of 1.252 bbf.
Apparent Canadian softwood lumber consumption advanced 16.9% in the first three months of 2018 to 2.624 bbf from 2.244 bbf a year earlier. In the month of March, apparent Canadian consumption was 805 mmbf, up 9.3% from 737 mmbf in March 2017, but down 6.1% from February’s 857 mmbf.
U.S. and Canada utilization/inventories
U.S. production as a percentage of practical capacity averaged 86% in the first three months, up from 84% in the same period last year. In Canada, the percentage was 87%, down from 89% in the first three months of 2017.
U.S. inventories climbed 1.2% in March to 2.959 bbf from 2.924 bbf a year earlier, while in Canada, inventories increased by 13.8% to 3.643 bbf from 3.201 bbf.
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