Tolko’s announcement this week adds to Canfor Corp.’s Dec. 19 decision to suspend operations at its Intercontinental Pulp Mill in Prince George for four weeks. In both instances the companies cited “lack of available economic fibre and weak markets” as key reasons for the shutdowns.Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7 a.m., Monday to Friday.
Those closures have become evident in B.C.’s trade figures, which saw lumber exports shrink by 10 per cent, or 1.7 million cubic metres, in the first 10 months of 2022 versus the same period of 2021. Prices for western spruce, pine and fir two-by-fours, the industry’s benchmark, hovered at $390 US per 1,000 board feet through mid-December, according to the industry publication Madison’s Lumber Reporter. That remains below average production costs of about $500 per 1,000 board feet.Article content
“It’s a cyclical industry and there are always swings , but this is an enormous swing” that lumber companies are absorbing, said Linda Coady, CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, which represents B.C.’s big lumber producers.