Lumber prices have risen by 10% in British Columbia fuelled by concerns that the huge forest fires in the south central region will force logging to stop, leading to short supply.
Weyerhaeuser has already called a halt to most of its logging operations in the southern interior of BC and a sawmill owned by Tolko Industries Ltd north of Kamloops has been destroyed by the massive blaze.
There are also fears that the fires could spead into the north of the province which contains millions of hectares of dead timber, killed by mountain pine beetles.
One industry analyst said that if that happened, the fire would be almost impossible to control.
