As June dawned most lumber prices stayed flat, as the long-awaited 2023 home building activity still did not materialize. Lumber producers remained well stocked with manufactured wood supply, thus customers felt no urgency to order beyond immediate needs for existing projects. Inventories in the field were reasonably robust, providing wholesalers, resellers, and other secondary suppliers…

As May drew to a close the sales of lumber across North America remained quite low for the time of year. Wildfires in Alberta decreased somewhat but were still a huge problem, as major forest fires erupted in Nova Scotia. Sawmill operators and forest technicians alike expressed great alarm at this fierce and very early…

Even in the middle of May the usual spring home construction did not materialize. The harsh winter was a distant memory as normal seasonal weather was upon North America, yet building activity did not increase. Whether it was concerns over macroeconomic conditions, questions about potentially low new home sales, or simply uncertainty in general; most…

The seemingly never-ending winter of 2022/23 had barely moved into spring when an enormous amount of forest fires broke out in Alberta. Raging wildfires forced the evacuation of roughly 25,000 residents, so far. At time of writing, more than 350,000 hectares burned since January 1st, compared to an average of 800 hectares by this time…

view the latest video of Madison’s Lumber Reporter softwood lumber prices and market update, for mid-May 2023: Check back with the Madison’s website www.madisonsreport.com often for the latest developments and updates. In the week ending May 12, 2023, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was again US$360 mfbm,…

May dawned to witness no particular increase in lumber demand. Supply remained good as sawmills had plenty of inventory on hand. Customer inquiries did improve, as is normal for the time of year, but was still along the levels of the past winter. Players wondered when ever would the spring construction season materialize for 2023.…

As April waned, the usual spring buying of construction framing softwood lumber had not yet materialized. Suppliers had plenty of inventory on hand for customers who continued to only order wood for immediate needs. As such, supply remained quite ahead of demand. Even as the days got progressively longer and the weather improved, there did…

Madison’s Sawmill Lookout is our brand new monthly digital publication, tracking sawmill curtailment news for you! With Madison’s Sawmill Lookout, you will save time and money by getting the latest information on production volume changes at US and Canadian sawmills straight into your inbox. Each month, be the first to find out about curtailments, downtime,…