After declines of 4% and 6% in the first and second quarters of 2019, in the third quarter North American lumber production decreased by 5% comparing to 2018 to a total of 34.662m m³.
Due to this fact the current data of the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) demonstrate contrasting developments for the USA and Canada. While, at a volume of 21.070m m³, production in the USA was 1% higher than in the third quarter of 2018, Canadian softwood lumber production, at 13.592m m³, showed a decline of 14%. However, the third quarter was the weakest quarter in 2019 so far. While the first three months were at the same level as the previous year’s figure, in the second quarter Canadian lumber production was already as much as 10% lower than the comparative figure.