| ATHENS, GEORGIA – March 6, 2025 – North American lumber capacity increased over 1% in 2024 while the top ten producers shed almost 5% of their total capacity by shuttering 13 softwood lumber mills. Forisk tracks over 2,300 forest industry mills, including planned capacity changes, to publish the North American Forest Industry Capacity Database (“Mill Capacity Database”) and generate industry research and projections in the Forisk Research Quarterly. From the mill database, Forisk annually publishes a list of the top 10 softwood lumber producers in North America, along with notes on the year-over-year changes.
“The top ten producers are the same as in 2023 but with 1.8 billion board feet (BBFT) less capacity,” remarked Amanda Lang, COO & VP of Client Services for Forisk Consulting. “Interestingly, of the seven new softwood sawmills started up in 2024, only one of those was by a top 10 company. The others were smaller players,” she added.
In 2024, North America’s top 10 softwood lumber firms could produce 35.1 BBFT of lumber, representing 46% of total North American capacity (76.6 BBFT). West Fraser, still the largest softwood lumber producer in North America at 6.8 BBFT of capacity, decreased overall capacity in 2024, closing four mills and completing two investments. Weyerhaeuser, the second largest lumber producer, reduced capacity by 20 million board feet (MMBF) with the closure of New Bern, NC and completing a modernization in Holden, LA.
Interfor and Canfor are the third and fourth largest lumber producers in North America after several capacity reductions throughout the year. Interfor reduced capacity by 550 MMBF and Canfor by 775 MMBF in 2024.
“The U.S. lumber sector is more consolidated than the broader North American sector as the top ten firms produce 50% of the softwood lumber in the country, compared with 46% of the North American region,” comments Pat Jolley, Product Manager of Forisk’s Mill Capacity Database. Weyerhaeuser tops the U.S. list at 4.6 BBFT of capacity, followed by West Fraser and Sierra Pacific Industries, at 3.4 and 3.3 BBFT, respectively.
Forisk’s North American Forest Industry Capacity Database (“Mill Capacity Database”) compiles mill capacity for softwood and hardwood lumber, structural panels (OSB and plywood), engineered wood products, pulp, veneer, wood pellets, chip mills, and nonstructural panel mills by region across five North American geographies: U.S. North, U.S. South, U.S. West, Eastern Canada, and Western Canada. Updated quarterly, the database includes detailed information for over 2,300 facilities, including location, mill type, wood use estimates, and species. It also provides ownership and capacity data by year for 2014-2024, with estimates for 2025-2027. Forisk’s Mill Capacity Database is available as an annual subscription or as a one-time purchase.
For more information or to subscribe to Forisk’s Mill Capacity Database, contact: Nick DiLuzio, ndiluzio@forisk.com, 770-725-8447. | 
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