Production curtailments began at two Conifex sawmills on Monday.
The Fort St. James operation has been shut down for four weeks and the Mackenzie operation for three weeks. They're expected to reduce Conifex's British Columbia lumber output by about 24 million board feet.
The moves were made in response to an "unprecedented combination of continued fibre supply challenges in the BC Interior and low lumber prices," Conifex vice president for Canadian operations Adam Infanti said in a letter to employees.
"The expected uptick from a spring lumber market has been delayed due to poor weather conditions which has led to subsequent build-up of inventories in the marketplace," he said.
"We also continue to experience high log costs and additional challenges with low log inventory levels in Mackenzie and continued uncertainty around the reservoir levels."
Starting May 20, there will also be a one-week curtailment at the Mackenzie finishing end.
Canfor began production cuts on April 29 adding up to 100 million board feet. They translated into a week of downtime for all of Canfor's B.C. sawmills and an additional week for its Mackenzie operation.
