Print
North American softwood sawmill capacity is at its highest levels since the Great Recession, according to the Federal Reserve Board.
Capacity increased by 1.4 billion board feet in the last year. And the vast majority of that increased capacity - 1.1 million board feet - is coming from the Southern U.S.
"Many wood products companies have announced significant investments to expand the capacity of existing mills, however, lead times to get the new equipment remains long," reports the American Wood Council. "In some cases, machinery is back-ordered up to 24 months – potentially extending the usual 12 to 24 months it would take to complete these types of projects. Manufacturing expansion projects are a long-term solution that will support increased capacity, but not until 2022 at best.