Focus on OSB: North America | 27
USA mills have almost three-fifths of global capacity. Unlike other wood products, the North American OSB market is largely self- contained with limited volumes imported from or exported to outside North America. In March 2025, the USA alleged border security concerns and levied an import duty of 25% on Canadian imports not exempted by the USMCA (U.S. - Mexico - Canada [Trade] Agreement). Aggregate tariffs of approximately 45% for Canadian softwood lumber never applied to OSB and USMCA currently exempts OSB from tariffs. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in February 2026 that these national security tariffs are unconstitutional, and President Trump levied replacement tariffs based on different statutory rationales. USMCA is due to be reviewed later in 2026.
Canadian mills normally supply almost 30% of US demand for OSB. Conversely, Canadian OSB makers regularly export about 65-70% of production to the US. The first half of 2025 followed history, but Canadian exports trended down towards the end of the year. In Quarter 4, Canadian OSB met 23% of US demand and 58% of Canadian production went to the US.
PERMANENT CLOSURES AND TEMPORARY CURTAILMENTS The weak demand, low product prices, high costs, and marginal profitability are economically pressuring all North American producers. For the Canadian mills, decreased exports to the unpredictable US market are amplifying the financial stress. In July 2025, Arbec shut down its mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick for 6 weeks and permanently laid off 29 of 113 workers. Louisiana-Pacific and West Fraser both decreased production output during Quarter 4, 2025. Others temporarily curtailed operations through lengthy maintenance shutdowns, reduced shifts, and/or extended holiday vacations. West Fraser continued to indefinitely idle the one of two manufacturing lines at its Cordele, Georgia facility that closed in 2023. Two Canadian OSB mills announced long- term closures in December 2025. First, the
Amos, Quebec mill acquired by Arbec Forest Products in 2023 was indefinitely closed with about 100 job losses. The Amos factory will not be dismantled and potentially could reopen. Secondly, West Fraser disclosed that it will indefinitely curtail its High Level, Alberta mill starting in Spring 2026 and up to 190 employees will lose their jobs. Arbec’s CEO Pierre Janelle explained the Amos closure.
“There is a decline in demand for our products, especially in the United States at the moment. That puts pressure on prices. The cost of [fibre] forest biomass in Quebec is still quite expensive. Finally, the sales corridor in [remote] Amos makes it extremely difficult to be competitive at this time.”
Meanwhile, a number of new opening projects have been announced in recent years. Five greenfield mills across North America were announced in the 2021-2022 timeframe when OSB prices were at historic highs and OSB makers enjoyed the highest profit margins in the history of the industry. As discussed elsewhere in this article,
OSB prices declined to pre-Pandemic 2019 levels by the end of 2025 and OSB makers experienced financial losses during Quarters 3 & 4 of 2025.
Huber announced a greenfield facility
in Cohasset, Minnesota during 2021 with a US$400m development budget and ordered equipment including a Siempelkamp multi-opening press. Due to irreconcilable differences with neighboring Native American nations, in 2023 Huber ended up transferring development of the new mill to friendlier Shuqualak, Mississippi. Construction of the Shuqualak mill began
in October 2023, with machinery start-up originally scheduled for late 2025 and full production for early 2026. The Shuqualak mill now is anticipated to open in late 2026. In 2024 Weyerhaeuser announced a US$500m greenfield Laminated Strand Lumber (“LSL”) mill in Monticello, Arkansas. LSL is engineered lumber based on OSB process technology, except LSL utilizes longer parallel strands in contrast to shorter cross-banded flakes for OSB.
Under development: North America OSB & LSL MILLS Company
Location Huber
Peak Renewables Kronospan Godfrey One Sky
AL Product Press
Shuqualak MS OSB Siempelkamp Dothan Oxford Jay
OSB unknown Prince Albert
Weyerhaeuser Monticello TOTAL (new and pending mills) Source: public announcements and news
AL OSB unknown ME OSB unknown SK OSB unknown AR
LSL
multi-opening multi-opening unknown unknown unknown
The groundbreaking ceremony at Monticello took place in June 2025 and the start-up target is middle of 2027. Devin Stockfish, Chief Executive Officer of Weyerhaeuser, said that he expects the plant to easily sell all production and to annually generate about US$100m in EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). While no developer has publicly canceled
any of the other four announced OSB mills, little tangible progress has recently been made at ordering equipment, breaking ground, or otherwise converting announcements into a producing mill. Low profitability prompts caution among investors and lenders at supporting a costly new OSB mill.
SIGNS OF HOPE AT START OF 2026 New home construction in the US fell below expectations during 2025 and aggregate North America (Canada + USA) homebuilding in 2026 is unlikely to improve. Nevertheless, product prices for most wood construction materials bounced back in the first few months of 2026 compared to the steady decline over 2025. Permanent and temporary shutdowns are reducing supply to better match current demand.
The price for reference 7/16” OSB sheathing (Southeastern USA) rose by 56% to
US$247 per m at the end of February 2026 compared to US$158 per m3
at the end of
2025. Current unit revenue now exceeds cash unit costs for surviving OSB makers. Regarding the USA economy, financial stresses on families that cause a higher proportion of multi-family construction are unlikely to change. The consensus of reputable forecasters such as Fannie Mae, National Association of Homebuilders, and Wells Fargo is that 30-year mortgage rates will remain above 6% through at least 2027 and that total housing starts in 2026 and 2027 will not be much different than 2024 and 2025.
Speaking of future housing construction,
the economics team at Wells Fargo Bank argued that, “…residential investment will remain a drag on the economy in the near
ESTIMATED CAPACITY Opening Date
late 2026 pending pending pending pending
single-opening 2027
sq ft (mm 3/8” basis)
675 650 700 800 700 320
3,845
m^3 * 1000
597 575 619 708 619 283
3,402
www.wbpionline.com | Summer 2026 | WBPI
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