Author: kkosman

  • Softwood Lumber Anti-Dumping Duty: WTO Ruling Explained

    As usual with the seemingly-permanent Softwood Lumber Dispute between Canada and the US, the latest trade ruling brings up more questions than it resolves. An almost undecipherable ruling out of the World Trade Organization on softwood lumber this week caused some great confusion, in no small part because it is both for and against both…

  • US and Canada Railway Carloadings: March & Jan 2019

    US rail traffic continued its slump in March, falling -5.2% to 2,022,934 carloads and intermodal units compared with volumes in March 2018, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data released April 5. In it’s latest release, issued Wednesday, AAR reported US rail traffic for the week ending April 6, 2019, at 510,192 carloads and…

  • WTO Panel Finds US Softwood Anti-Dumping Duties in Violation

    The World Trade Organization Tuesday said the US violated international trade rules in the way it calculated tariffs on Canadian imports of softwood lumber in a key dispute ruling published on the WTO website. The decision also provided a boost to the US’s use of a controversial methodology used when calculating anti-dumping duties on Canadian…

  • Softwood Lumber Prices Continue Soft During the Usual Busy Buying Season

    Softwood lumber industry players continued wondering last week where the market was, as many prices softened further and the usual spring buying spree has yet not materialized. Sales volumes were OK, according to both sawmills and secondary suppliers, but — once again — no one was stocking inventory. This makes lumber producers wary; if some…

  • US House Prices: February 2019

    Home price gains in the US are about to take off again, said Corelogic Tuesday. The real estate data and analytics company predicts that annual gains in home prices could hit close to +5% by 2020, thanks to falling interest rates. CoreLogic® Tuesday released the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI™) and HPI Forecast™ for February…