After flattening out last month, the latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track, for January-August 2019, shows US softwood lumber production volume continues almost flat from the same time last year, to 23,737 mmfbm. Like last month, January – August softwood lumber production in Canada continued big drops through most of this year, falling another -11%, to 16,655 mmfbm, compared to the first eight months of 2018 when it was 18,664 mmfbm. In British Columbia, brutal…

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The size of the global wood pellet market for 2019 was estimated to be valued at over US$8.5 billion, and is estimated to exhibit over 10% CAGR from 2019 to 2025, said Global Markets Insights October 2019. Over 22 million tons of wood pellets were shipped globally in 2018, up 21% from 2017. The US, Canada, Vietnam, Latvia, and Russia, accounted for 69% of global exports in 2018. Demand for imported pellets in Japan and South Korea continued a three-year…

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The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing Friday morning Eastern time, however here is a sneak peak at benchmark WSPF prices: After jumping another +$18 last week, The price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr stayed flat this week, Nov 7, 2019, at US$396 mfbm, from US$396 mfbm last week. — Madison’s Lumber Reporter This week’s lumber market story published to the website Wednesday: https://madisonsreport.com/2019/11/05/softwood-lumber-prices-pop-higher-as-seasonal-winter-slow-down-looms/…

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Data released Monday from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings in the US increased in September 2019 on a year-over-year basis. The estimated number of job openings declined from the August total to 338,000 in September, after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The September 2019 count of unfilled jobs represents a year-over-year gain relative to the 299,000 estimated unfilled construction jobs in September 2018. The US construction job open position…

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Veteran solid wood processors and sellers like to say, “Labour Day is the beginning of the end, and US Thanksgiving is the end of the end” for large-volume lumber sales. The business of manufacturing and distributing North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber is directly tied to US home building and remodelling activity. As darkness and bad weather looms across the continent, construction jobsites start to close down. Well aware of this annual cycle, sawmills tend to load up their…

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After declines for six consecutive quarters, the home building component of gross domestic product (GDP) in the US increased during 3Q 2019. This gain was due to the housing rebound that has taken hold since the spring, with the pace of single-family permits rising since April and the rate of single-family starts increasing since May. The overall housing share of GDP in the US increased to 14.6% during 3Q 2019, as GDP growth slowed to a 1.9% rate. The home…

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The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing Friday morning Eastern time, however here is a sneak peak at benchmark WSPF prices: After rising +$8 last week, The price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr jumped this week, Oct 31, 2019, up +$18 to US$396 mfbm, from US$378 mfbm; Utility/#3 grade 2×4 continued recent increases, up another +$12 to US$262 mfbm. — Madison’s Lumber Reporter This…

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This week started with big news as Canfor announced a bid to go private, and Conifex sold its Fort St James timber rights to Hampton, which plans to build a new sawmill within 36 months. Last week, construction framing dimension softwood lumber prices rose slightly, while Oriented Strand Board and Plywood prices absolutely soared. There are fewer panel producers than dimension lumber manufacturers — on a relative basis, and they are more disciplined with their production volumes during times of…

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Contracts for new, single-family home sales in the US inched down -0.7% in September to a 701,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The decline came off a downwardly revised August estimate, which was decreased from an initial reading of 713,000 to a new estimate of 706,000. Year-over-year, the September 2019 estimate is +15.5% higher. Sales in September continue strength supported by lower mortgage rates. About 15% of newly…

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After reaching 17-month high last month, existing home sales in the US, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Tuesday, fell more than expected in September 2019 despite low mortgage rates. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped -2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million in September. However, sales were still +3.9% higher than one year ago. The September inventory stayed the same at 1.83 million units from August but decreased from…

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