With British Columbia unchanged from February, Canadian lumber production crept 3% higher in March, reaching 2.1 billion board feet. B.C. totaled 1.1 bbf for a third consecutive month. B.C. also was unchanged for the quarter compared to a year ago. All of Canada was at 6.2 bbf through March, up 6% from a year ago and up 6% from the fourth quarter.

Weyerhaeuser has allocated $C23 million in production upgrades over the next year and a half at its dimension sawmill in Drayton Valley, Alberta. The enhancements include upgrades to the facility's sawmill and drying operations. The company anticipates that the improvements will allow for a 35% increase in production capacity.

U.S. lumber production totaled 7.530 billion board feet through March, up 7.2% compared to the first three months of 2012, according to the Western Wood Products Association's Lumber Track publication. Through the first quarter, output in the West was up 10.4% compared to a year ago; production in the South was up 4.4%. Nationwide, production in the month of March totaled 2.476 billion feet, up 1.8% from February and 2.0% higher than the March 2012 total.

Western lumber production through April totaled 4.632 billion board feet, up 11.3% from the first four months of 2012, according to the Western Wood Products Association's "Western Lumber Facts" publication. Production through April in the Coast region was up 13.0% compared to January-April 2012; Inland production was up 7.3%. Output in the California Redwood region rose 21.2%. Western production in April totaled 1.197 billion feet, up 14.2% from the April 2012 total.

Vaagen Brothers Lumber, headquartered in Colville, Wash., is now operating a new sawmill in Eager, Ariz. Four Corners Forest Products utilizes timber from wildfire salvage and fuels reduction projects in northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico, according to Forest Business Network. The mill can produce 100,000 board feet of lumber per shift. It employs 15 to 30 people directly, and another 25 to 50 in logging jobs. For more, click here...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and President and CFO Roy O. Martin III have announced plans for the company to invest $20 million to modernize and expand its plywood mill in Chopin, La. The expansion will include upgrading drying equipment, adding a production line and creating 24 new jobs. For more, click here...