If you have been following the lumber industry you know that for the past 6 months we have been seeing record breaking curtailments for various lumber and plywood mills. A curtailment is when the Mills make the tough decision to limit production. In some cases they shut the mill down indefinitely. These curtailments were generally in response to record low lumber pricing and the unsustainable nature of those prices for the mills. Below is a summary of all the curtailments with dates and the amount of BF reduction.
- Company Mill(s) Announced Date Production Impact
- Tolko Soda Creek and Armstrong 18-Sep-19 90 mmfbm
- Kenora Forest Products Kenora 16-Sep-19 80 mmfbm
- Tolko Kelowna 1 12-Sep-19 29 mmfbm
- Teal-Jones Surrey 11-Sep-19 n.a.
- West Fraser 5 BC mills 9-Sep-19 100 mmfbm
- Interfor Hammond 3-Sep-19 90 mmfbm
- Canfor Houston, Polar, Prince George and Fort St. John sawmills 27-Aug-19 75 mmfbm
- Conifex El Dorado 13-Aug-19 21 mmfbm
- Canfor Mackenzie and Isle Pierre 18-Jul-19 400 mmfbm
- West Fraser High Prairie Sawmill 28-Jun-19 5 mmfbm
- Hampton Fort St. James 24-Jun-19 300 mmfbm
- West Fraser Chasm Lumber Mill and 100 Mile House 17-Jun-19 314 mmfbm
- Canfor All BC mills except WynnWood 10-Jun-19 200 mmfbm
- Rex Lumber All three of the company’s SYP dimension lumber mills 6-Jun-19 132 mmfbm
- Manke Lumber Manke Lumber Tacoma Sawmill 6-Jun-19 80 mmfbm
- Western Forest Products Duke Point, Saltair sawmill, and Chemainus 6-Jun-19 15 mmfbm
- Tolko Armstrong and Soda Creek 5-Jun-19 18 mmfbm
- Canfor Vavenby sawmill 3-Jun-19 250 mmfbm
- West Fraser Chetwynd, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Smithers and Fraser Lake 3-Jun-19 30 mmfbm
- Conifex El Dorado 3-Jun-19 5 mmfbm
- F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Company Montana Mill 31-May-19 35 mmfbm
- Interfor BC Interior 28-May-19 20 mmfbm
- Tolko Armstrong and Soda Creek 23-May-19 22 mmfbm
- West Fraser Chasm and 100 Mile House 16-May-19 40 mmfbm
- Tolko Quest Wood (Quesnel), Kelowna 10-May-19 250 mmfbm
- Conifex Fort St. James and Mackenzie 1-May-19 24 mmfbm
- Interfor All BC operations 25-Apr-19 20 mmfbm
- Canfor All BC operations 24-Apr-19 100 mmfbm
- Georgia Pacific Coos Bay 11-Apr-19 200 mmfbm
- Resolute Forest Products Quebec, Ontario 21-Mar-19 30 mmfbm
- Western Forest Products Port Alberni 8-Mar-19 13 mmfbm
- Swanson Group Glendale 1-Mar-19 210 mmfbm
- Canfor Vavenby, Houston, Mackenzie 30-Jan-19 40 mmfbm
- Conifex Fort St. James 30-Jan-19 8 mmfbm
- West Fraser Chasm, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Chetwynd 14-Jan-19 50 mmfbm
- Canfor BC Sawmills 14-Dec-18 55 mmfbm
- Canfor All BC Sawmills 10-Dec-18 10 mmfbm
- Conifex Fort St. James 30-Nov-18 66 mmfbm
- West Fraser Chasm, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Chetwynd 30-Nov-18 25 mmfbm
- West Fraser Fraser Lake & Quesnel 13-Nov-18 300 mmfbm
- Swanson Group Glendale 13-Nov-18 4 mmfbm
- Resolute Forest Products “Many” 12-Nov-18 63 mmfbm
- Conifex Fort St. James 9-Nov-18 20 mmfbm
- Canfor All BC Sawmills 1-Nov-18 100 mmfbm
- Vaagen Brothers Midway Sawmill 24-Oct-18 59 mmfbm
- Sierra Pacific Industries Burney Sawmill 23-Oct-18 31 mmfbm
- Swanson Group Roseburg, Glendale mills 15-Oct-18 93 mmfbm
- Tolko Quest Wood 15-Oct-18 25 mmfbm
- Interfor Adams Lake, Castlegar, Grand Forks 12-Oct-18 38 mmfbm
How to Calculate Lumber Requirements for Large Projects
How to Calculate Lumber Requirements for Large Projects
Accurately estimating lumber requirements is one of the most important steps in planning a large construction project. Whether you're building…
How the Railroad Boom Shaped Early Lumber Distribution
How the Railroad Boom Shaped Early Lumber Distribution
Long before trucks and interstates moved lumber, railroads did the heavy lifting. Rail expansion in the 1800s didn't just move…
Eastern vs. Western vs. European SPF — What Actually Changes Between Them
Eastern vs. Western vs. European SPF — What Actually Changes Between Them
SPF shows up on a line card as one category. It isn't one single source of wood, though. Eastern, Western,…
