Industry News Markets
Canadian wood exports on the rise

November 18, 2014, Vancouver, B.C. – Canadian lumber exports were on the rise in the first eight months of 2014 despite a sharp decline in demand from the Japanese market.

According to the November report from International Wood Markets Group, lumber exports of 11.3 billion bf for the first eight months of 2014 represents an increase of 4.0 per cent over the same time in 2013. The primary driver for the increase is the growing demand in the U.S. market, which imported 7.98 billion bf of Canadian lumber, up 8.3 per cent over last year. That increase offset plummeting demand in Japan, with a 23.2 per cent decline (190 million bf) over the first eight months of 2013.

Overall, Canadian lumber shipments for the first eight months of 2014 were 16.02 billion bf, up 0.9 per cent vs. 2013 (+143 million bf).

The plywood/OSB market shows mixed results thus far, as panel shipments have increased by 6.4 per cent to 5.68 billion bf while plywood shipment dropped 2.8 per cent to 1.18 billion sf. However, both plywood and OSB exports rose sharply, with a 23.0 per cent increase in plywood exports and an 11.8 per cent increase in OSB exports.

For the full report from the International Wood Markets Group, visit www.woodmarkets.com.

November 18, 2014  By  Andrew Macklin