The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Oct. 1, edition that lumber prices have been rising since their recent low in mid-July. The Globe's guest columnist Brian Donovan writes that typically, prices drop from Labour Day until early in the new year when buying resumes for the spring construction season. Although many mills continued to run during previous tough times to drive high-cost producers out of the market, mills are taking downtime more quickly now to support prices. Madisons Lumber Reporter says 6 per cent of production has been curtailed from January through August of 2024. Canfor, West Fraser Timber and Interfor have all since announced production downtime: Weak lumber markets, high fibre costs and increased U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber are cited as the main reasons. Canfor said in September that it will close two mills in B.C. this year, eliminating 670 million board feet of production annually. West Fraser is reducing production by 110 million board feet annually at its sawmill in Lake Butler, Fla. Interfor announced that it is indefinitely shutting operations at its Meldrim, Ga., and Summerville, S.C., sawmills. The mills have a combined annual capacity of 330 million board feet.