According to Statistics Canada, in the first quarter of 2023, the capacity utilization rate of the Canadian wood products manufacturing industry was 77.1%. While down slightly from the previous quarter (81.7% in Q4 2022), the industry's performance remains relatively stable compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2022, the production capacity of wood products manufacturing industry accounted for 78.7%.
The forestry and logging industry is operating at a reduced capacity of 76.1% in the first quarter of 2023. This is a slight decrease compared to 77.7% of the industry in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, on a year-over-year basis, the industry's capacity decline was more pronounced than the 78.0% drop in Q1 2022.
Paper manufacturing was operating at 82.6% capacity in the first quarter, down from 83.4% in the previous quarter and 83.9% for the industry in the first quarter of 2022.
Overall Canadian industry capacity increased slightly in the first quarter of 2023, operating at 81.9% of capacity compared to 81.8% in the previous quarter.