Canfor temporarily reducing production capacity in B.C. due to market conditions

Canfor Corp. is temporarily cutting production in British Columbia due to what it says are challenging market conditions.

The lumber producer says it is taking a two-week curtailment starting Sept. 26 at the majority of its solid wood facilities in B.C.

Production will resume with reduced operating schedules until the end of the year.

Canfor says the moves are expected to result in a reduction of about 200 million board feet of production capacity.

"The need to reduce production at the majority of our B.C. solid wood facilities is the result of a decrease in market demand over the last few months," a company spokesperson told CBC News in an email.

"This is largely driven by rising inflation and interest rates."

The company says employees will have the chance to work during the downtime to complete maintenance projects and other site activities.

The curtailments in B.C. follow cuts by Canfor at its operations in Sweden where reduced operating schedules have resulted in a 15 per cent reduction in production capacity.

In April, the company announced it was reducing production for four weeks at 11 sawmills, including all nine B.C. mills and two in Alberta.

At the time, Canfor CEO Don Kayne said the company was experiencing supply chain challenges and needed to reduce the company's operating schedules to address its unsustainable inventory levels.