First half of 2022 shows North American lumber output decline vs previous year

Sagging demand and an insufficient labor force kept North American lumber output down in the first half of 2022.

Preliminary figures from industry associations and Statistics Canada show production drops in nearly every producing region. First-half output of 30.336 billion board feet was 4.2% lower than the first half of 2021.

While gains in the first half of 2021 compared to 2020 were largely driven by an increase in Canadian output, the opposite was the case in 2022. Production in Canada fell 9.4% in the first half of the year, to 11.363 bbf. British Columbia production of 4.352 bbf represented a drop of 12.6%, while output in Eastern Canada of 7.011 bbf was down 7.2%.

Same story across the region

US production in the first half was down 0.8% from the year-ago period to 18.973 bbf. Drops were recorded in all producing regions except the South, where output of 10.797 bbf was up 2.1%.

Elsewhere in the US, production in the West of 7.326 bbf fell 4.8% compared to the year-ago pace. Output in the Inland region slumped 7.6%, while production in the Coast region fell 2.3%. Output in the California Coast region dropped 17.8%.

Second-quarter US production of 9.647 bbf was up 3.8% from the first quarter of 2022, while Canadian output of 5.625 bbf was down 2.0%. Overall North American production of 15.272 bbf in the second quarter was up 1.6% from the first quarter.

Compared to the second quarter of 2021, US production was down 1.7% in the like period of 2022, while Canadian output fell 10.3%.

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