Several New Zealand sawmills producing housing timber are temporarily halting production, as the construction sector slows. Forest manager and log marketer Allan Laurie said demand for building new houses had dropped in the face of rising interest rates. As a result, there was too much timber on the market, prices were dropping and sawmills were easing off production, Laurie said. "There are many sawmills running short time and I hear there are a couple in the North Island literally stopping, larger mills. It's not a happy hunting grounds at the moment," he said. "Some are ...