Author: Madison’s Lumber Reporter

  • COFI Announces…

    BC Hydro executive vice-president Susan Yurkovich will become the new president and chief executive officer of the Council of Forest Industries on September 14, the agency announced Tuesday. Yurkovich, who leaves Hydro at the end of this week, will replace James Gorman, who is taking a new position as vice-president of Vancouver-based wood products company…

  • US New and Existing Home Sales: April 2015

    Following the pullback seen in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that US new home sales climbed 6.8 per cent to an annual rate of 517,000 in April from the revised March rate of 484,000. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the median price of an…

  • US Housing Starts: May 2015

    Groundbreakings of new homes in the US surged to a seven-year high in April before falling 11 per cent last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The level of activity remained stable in May at an annual rate of 1.04 million units, and signs pointed to further gains in coming months. Housing Starts, US US…

  • Wildfires, Western North America

    Wildfires raging in four West Coast states have forced more than 1,000 people to be evacuated from their homes this week in rapidly growing blazes. The fires, spread by wind and exacerbated by very dry conditions, have already consumed more than 100 structures in Alaska, and were threatening others in drought-hit California and Arizona. In…

  • North American Wood Products Industry in 2015 and Beyond

    Forest Economic Advisors — Conference Call with BMO Capital Markets Last week was held a regular conference call about the North American wood products industry by Mark Wilde at BMO Capital Markets. Analysts at Forest Economic Advisors provided the update. US Housing • FEA pessimistic on US housing starts relative to consensus: 1.1 million starts…