For years, Canadian forestry producers have been hit
by a stream of bad news. A strong Canadian dollar,
trade disputes with the Americans over softwood
lumber, mountain pine beetles and forest fires were
unrelenting challenges for the industry, reducing
production and profitability. It also resulted in a good
deal of downsizing and closing older, less efficient
mills. But in 2012, prices for lumber and panelboard in
North America started to rise, lifted by the slow-butsteady
recovery in U.S. homebuilding.