Canada and US Railcar Loadings The US Association of American Railroads (AAR) Wednesday reported US rail traffic for the week ending August 1, 2020, as well as volumes for July 2020. Specifically lumber & wood products were up 258 carloads, or +1.6%.Combined US carload and intermodal originations in July 2020 were 2,337,977, down -9%, or 240,740 carloads and intermodal units from July 2019. US railroads originated 1,042,017 carloads in July 2020, down -18%, or 222,337 carloads, from July 2019. US…

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Here is a SNEAK PEAK at benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir (WSPF) prices: By far eclipsing recent and historical highs, the wholesaler price of benchmark construction framing dimension softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr for the week ending Aug 7, 2020, was US$666 mfbm (net FOB sawmill), an increase of +$46, or +7%, from last week when it was US$620. The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing tomorrow morning…

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Construction spending in the US decreased -0.7% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$1.355 trillion in June of 2020, following a downwardly revised -1.7% fall in May said the US Commerce Dept Monday. Spending on private construction projects slipped -0.7%. Spending on residential projects fell -1.5%, offsetting a +0.2% gain in outlays on nonresidential construction projects such as manufacturing and power plants. It was the fourth consecutive month of fall in construction spending. Spending on…

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At a time when end-users have usually received delivery for expected building needs until after September, demand for North American construction framing dimension Softwood Lumber remained strong last week. Already with order files into the end of September, sawmills quoted higher on prices for product that was nowhere near a production date. Customer inventories were so lean and supply so weak that some Lumber commodity items were impossible to find. When volumes were located buyers agreed to any price whatsoever,…

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MADISON’S SOFTWOOD LUMBER MARKET WEEKLY COMMENT: Key comment: “Softwood lumber sales roared back to life last week as lumber prices reached truly dizzying heights.” Prices updated August 4, 2020 (CLICK TABLE TO ENLARGE) #softwood #lumber #sawmill #wood #forest #forestry #building #construction #housing #UShousing

Biofuel Boilers Increase Greenhouse Efficiency A small organic greenhouse operation in Prince Edward Island is leading the charge to show how biofuel boilers can make greenhouse food production more efficient and less carbon-intensive. Atlantic Grown Organics was using four boilers to heat their four acre greenhouse, burning by-products from a local oilseed processing plant in addition to fossil fuels. Earlier this year they took advantage of $800,000 worth of available federal and provincial government grants to make the switch to…

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Madison’s North America Lumber and Sawmill Update: June 2020 Lumber Price Increases The vast majority of logs sold, in British Columbia and elsewhere, go to the sawmilling industry for lumber production. With this year’s lockdown due to COVID19 then ramp-up of manufacturing, lumber prices swooned down drastically in spring and are now surging back up with powerful momentum. It’s very interesting to watch the trend of log prices as a result of this latest lumber price volatility: A large proportion…

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Further to these updates earlier in the season by Madison’s, on June 6, “Wood Panel Prices Will Provide Indication of Remaining Summer Lumber Demand” and June 24, “Plywood Prices’ Major Surge While Most Softwood Lumber Prices Moderate,” once again last week the movement of plywood prices, slightly down, let’s us know what will likely happen with North American construction framing softwood lumber prices this week and next. Canadian Softwood Plywood 3/8” or 9.5mm FOB Toronto prices last week were C$636…

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