Canada will continue to be a major supplier of softwood lumber to the US in the next decade, with the export volume from the Eastern provinces being forecasted to increase substantially, according to a study by ForestEdge and Wood Resources International (WRI).
The two major lumber-producing regions of Canada, the Western region (British Columbia and Alberta), and the Eastern provinces (Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes), each face complex factors that will further decrease the Annual Allowable Cuts (AAC). However, despite declining AAC’s, there is still the possibility that softwood roundwood production will increase in the future in Eastern Canada as current harvest levels are far below sustainable levels.
The more than decade-long infestation of the Mountain Pine Beetle in Interior British Columbia is coming to an end. Harvest levels are predicted to fall over the 2016-2030 forecast period, though log supply for the local sawmills could be modestly augmented by slightly increasing harvests in Coastal BC and a likely reduction in log exports to the Pacific Rim, Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ) reports.
Another of the study’s conclusion is that lumber exports from Eastern Canada to the US are likely to increase substantially between 2017 and 2030. The in-depth analysis showed some interesting results in terms of Canada’s role as a future lumber supplier to the US. This was particularly true in the study’s high demand scenario.
