Canadian lumber output declined 21% in 2009

Moscow. Mar 04, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. Canadian lumber production in 2009 finished at 18.8 billion board feet (bbf), a 21% cut from 2008. Production declined 14% from November to December, as Random Lengths informed Lesprom Network.

However, at 1.4 bbf, December was just 1% behind the same month in 2008, with British Columbia up 14% compared to December 2008. B.C. finished 2009 at 9.7 bbf, down 19% from 2008, to account for 52% of Canadian output.

The B.C. Northern Interior declined 9%, to 4.4 bbf, but the Southern Interior declined 34%, to 1.8 bbf. Nova Scotia also declined 34%, to 228 million board feet (mmbf), and Ontario declined 36%, to 1.4 bbf. December output in Ontario, 79 mmbf, was 49% below the year-earlier level.

At 72 mmbf, New Brunswick was alone in reporting a gain from November to December, and it also was the only province besides B.C. with a gain compared to December 2008. For the year, cuts were lightest in Alberta, where output declined 10%, to 2.8 bbf.