Article content “The mills are all swimming in their wood now,” Kuta said. “We need to see take-away increase dramatically in the secondary, end-user markets and export markets to right the ship in cash,” he said, referring to the need for wood to be shipped from producers to lumberyards. Sawmills will have a difficult time selling wood they can’t transport, and they need sales and shipments to flush out the existing high-priced inventory that is on the industry’s books right now. Tumbling lumber prices are also “pieces of Canfor’s equation,” BMO’s Wilde said, noting the steep two-month collapse in pricing as do-it-yourself renovation demand has dropped by a reported 40 per cent at big-box retailers.