As June reached its latter weeks, a stellar new housing construction report, for May, and continued very low lumber inventory levels served to pop up demand for wood. Prices on many lumber items rebounded somewhat, with specialty commodities like studs leading the charge. Customers were caught flat-footed by diminishing supply as actual building activity got…

A very late start to the annual seasonal building cycle finally brought improved lumber sales volumes at the beginning of July. Due to lowered production volumes over the past approximately one year, and ongoing sawmill curtailments, lumber supply did not meet demand. As sawmill order files stretched out to several weeks, customers searched among wholesalers…

True housing construction activity finally got going across the North American continent as the month of June closed. Many builders found themselves short of the lumber supply they would need for existing projects. While no one was yet building inventory, the availability of wood remained quite tight due to ongoing sawmill curtailments and lessened production…

US housing starts and new home sales data for May 2023 both show a turn-a-round point from the slow-down of mid-2022, when lending rates started to rise. Total housing starts in the US for May 2023 shot up by +22% from the previous month, to 1.631 million units, compared to the 1.340 million units reported…

view the latest video of Madison’s Lumber Reporter softwood lumber prices and market update, for end of June 2023: In the week ending June 23, 2023, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$406 mfbm. This is up by +$16, or +4%, from the previous week when it…

As June reached it’s latter weeks, a stellar new housing construction report, for May, and continued very low inventory levels served to pop up lumber demand. Prices on many items rebounded somewhat, with specialty commodities like studs leading the charge. Customers were caught flat-footed with diminishing supply as actual building activity got into high-gear for…

US housing starts and new home sales data for May 2023 both show a turn-a-round point from the slow-down of mid-2022, when lending rates started to rise. Providing indication that the backlog of homes under construction is easing, housing completions improved considerably over the very high numbers of the past year. Total housing starts in…

It was at this time two years ago that the benchmark lumber price, of Western SPF 2x4s, reached the astronomical high of US$1,600 mfbm. This radical increase eclipsed any price level previously seen by 3X. Mayhem ensued throughout the lumber market, for suppliers and customers alike, as industry worked to adjust to this new high.…

The beginning of June came and went with still not much increase in construction activity. While lumber sales volumes did improve somewhat, demand continued soft for the time of year. On the supply side, there was concern about the ongoing very severe wildfires in some important timber baskets of Canada, like Quebec, Alberta, and parts…

view the latest video of Madison’s Lumber Reporter softwood lumber prices and market update, for mid-June 2023: In the week ending June 09, 2023, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was again US$360 mfbm, which is flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry price guide…