Canadian OSB exports stabilised in the first quarter at the level reached after soaring in the third and fourth quarters of 2017. Source: Euwid
Figures from Statistics Canada show that Canada’s OSB industry booked a double-digit year-on-year growth for the third quarter in a row with a 16.6% upswing to 1.592m m3.
Exports had jumped 14.9% to 1.563m m3 in the third quarter of 2017, with the fourth quarter faring even better with an 18.1% improvement to 1.598m m3.
The value of these exports rose just 4.1% to CAD481.2m in the first quarter.
The third quarter had ended with a 12.6% increase in the value of exports to CAD509.2m, with the fourth quarter producing a 10.1% upswing to CAD496.7m.
The discrepancy was even larger when it came to shipments to the US. The amount exported was 16.3% higher than the prior-year period at 1.488m m3, but their value was up just 2.8% at CAD448.8m.
US exports have consistently risen in the past four quarters.
Canada had shipped 1.314m m3 to its neighbour to the south in the second quarter of 2017, followed by 1.448m m3 in the third quarter and 1.463m m3 in the fourth quarter.
