Aug 12, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. B.C. accounts for about half of Canada’s softwood lumber production. Statistics Canada’s latest estimate of sawn lumber production in B.C. shows a slight decline in May following two straight month-over-month gains. It remains to be seen whether the long-term downward trend that began in March 2006 and has lowered output by over 50 per cent is still intact, Clearwater Times reported. Production totalled 1.87 million dry cubic metres in May, seasonally adjusted, down three per cent from April. The Coastal region led the decline, while output inched lower in the Northern and Southern Interior regions. Meanwhile, output increased in May in the Central Interior region for the second straight month. In the first five months of this year, lumber production in B.C. has slipped 28 per cent from the same period last year. B.C.’s lumber manufacturing industry depends on housing markets in the United States. Recent sales statistics seem to indicate the U.S. resale housing market has reached a floor, although it remains too early to be highly certain that the worst is over. The U.S. National Association of Realtors reported last week that sales of existing homes increased 3.6 per cent in June, following similar gains in April and May. This is the first sign of an upward trend since mid-2005, improving the outlook for B.C.’s lumber industry.