The latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the prices for the building materials softwood lumber, OSB, gypsum products, and ready-mix concrete all fell during October. National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing staffer David Logan takes a look at the declines for these materials, specifically pointing out the decline Oriented Strand Boad (0.7 per cent) as paltry following a cumulative 25 per cent price increase since February.
US Construction Materials Prices
Prices received for softwood lumber, OSB, gypsum products, and ready-mix concrete all fell in October according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
OSB prices declined 0.5 per cent in October, ending a 7-month trend that had made the commodity the most expensive it had been in over three years. The small percentage decrease, while welcome, is paltry compared to the cumulative 25 per cent price increase OSB had experienced since February. Prices received for ready-mix concrete, gypsum products, and softwood lumber declined by 0.1 per cent, 0.5 per cent, and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
The US dollar remains relatively strong against the Canadian dollar, and further currency appreciation appears on the horizon as Federal Reserve of officials signal that they will raise the US benchmark interest rate in December, says NAHB Eye on Housing Wednesday. A strengthening US dollar makes Canadian softwood lumber cheaper to import, which may prove increasingly important as softwood lumber litigation picks up in an uncertain international trade environment.