Author: kkosman

This week marks the normal seasonal end to softwood lumber manufacturing across most of North America annually. Sawmills in Eastern Canada, specifically Quebec, are already on their yearly seasonal break, and those in the West are not far behind with curtailments and closures, according to Madison’s Lumber Reporter. Usually at this time of year construction…

New Funding for Alberta Biomass Fuel Projects, Global Biomass Capacity to Grow by 16% Alberta Announces $150 Million in Funding for Emission-Cutting Projects The Government of Alberta announced in early November it will provide $100 million in funding for Emissions Reduction Alberta’s (ERA) Shovel-Ready Challenge through the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction fund. An additional…

A large proportion of lumber produced in Canada goes into US home building. Like lumber prices, housing construction in the US underwent a significant stall in spring 2020. And, like lumber prices, it is recovering steadily from severe lows. It’s very interesting to watch the trend of log prices as a result of this latest…

At a time of year when housing construction across North America is usually slowing down to very limited activity, thus softwood lumber prices are usually quite soft, in the past couple of weeks there has been a resurgence of strong demand for solid wood products. Prices of dimension lumber commodities have responded upward accordingly. Underpinning…

US construction employment gained +27,000 jobs in November to a total of 7.4 million, but employment is -279,000 below its February level, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Residential construction employment, specifically, rose by +15,400 in November to 2.9 million. In November, employment rose in residential specialty trade contractors by +14,100. In the past…