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US New Home Sales, Apartment Inventory: March and 1Q 2018
According to the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development last week, sales of new homes in the US rose by +4% over the month of March to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000. Year-to-date, covering 1Q 2018, the total number of new homes sold is +10.3% ahead of…
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Great Canadian Rail Fiasco 2017 – July ’18
Monumentally-frustrated North American forest operators were astonished last week to receive word from a major Canadian railroad that the egregious logistics and supply chain problems of last winter will not be unwound until July. Those Canadian sawmill facilities which are at the mercy of one or the other of the two Canadian rail operators have…
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North American Railway Difficulties
Yet another transportation issue bombshell hit the North American forest industry last week in the form of a potential looming labour disruption in Canada. Wednesday reported the Manitoba Co-operator that members of the Teamsters and IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) unions were set to strike CP Rail April 21, but postponed it until union…
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Terrace, BC, To Get Wood Pellet Plant
A Terrace-based pellet plant may soon become a reality as Skeena Sawmills moves forward on its plans to begin construction this summer, said the Terrace Standard Tuesday. The northern British Columbia mill is reserving its official announcement on the estimated $20-million pellet plant until construction starts, but operations vice-president Roger Keery has confirmed the project…
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US Construction Employment, Job Openings: March 2018
The count of unfilled jobs in the US construction sector declined in February, but remains higher than a year ago. According to the latest BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs came in at 196,000 in February. The post-recession high count of open, unfilled…
