Consequences of the recent deal between the U.S. and Canada over trade in lumber are beginning to show.
This week, West Fraser Timber used a refund in duties it had paid on exports to the U.S. to buy 13 sawmills in the U.S. South. The purchase turns the Vancouver firm into the continent's second-biggest lumber producer after Weyerhaeuser, and potentially positions the company to take advantage of a cyclical upturn in the industry.
Meanwhile changes in British Columbia resulting from the trade dispute are squeezing smaller firms and rural towns across the region. For example, a Quesnel mill that focuses on niche products is threatened by less supply from government-owned forests. Similar pressures now face towns across the province, where the main industry's future is in doubt.