Capacity utilization rate of Canadian wood product industry increases to 90.2% in 4Q2016

The capacity utilization rate of the Canadian wood product manufacturing industry rose for the fifth time in six quarters, from 87.5% in the third quarter 2016 to 90.2% in the fourth quarter, reported Statistics Canada. The advance was attributable to an overall increase in production. The capacity utilization rate of the forestry and logging industry declined from 92.6% in the third quarter to 87.0% in the fourth quarter.

Canadian industries in total operated at 82.2% of their production capacity in the fourth quarter 2016, up from 81.6% in the previous quarter. This was the second consecutive quarterly gain.