Wood fiber costs for pellet producers in both Canada and the US were slightly higher in the 1Q/18 than in the previous quarter, continuing an upward trend that started in early 2017. In Western Canada, the difficult weather conditions during the winter months hampered harvest operations, forcing multiple sawmills to either slow production or take limited downtime in the first quarter.  The lower sawmill operating rates resulted in reduced supplies of residues for pellet manufacturers, forcing some to use more costly forest biomass in their feedstock mix. The total fiber cost for Canadian pellet producers has slowly ...