As previously stated by Madison’s, for US home building activity and thus softwood lumber demand, “Labour Day is the beginning of the end and US Thanksgiving is the end of the end”. Canadian Thanksgiving is somewhere in the middle of these important dates, so provides a good indication of what is happening with lumber prices…

Canadian softwood lumber production decreased -7.4% from June to 4,491 thousand cubic metres in July, said Statistics Canada Friday. Production was +1.5% higher than in July 2019. Canada’s sawmills shipped 4,553 thousand cubic metres of lumber in July, down -4.2% from June and down -0.7% from July 2019. Lumber companies in the US reached record profits thanks to high…

Privately-owned US housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000, the Commerce Department said. This is -5% below the revised July estimate of 1,492,000, but is +3% above the August 2019 rate of 1,377,000. Total starts were up +3% year-over-year compared to August 2019. The dip in housing starts was…

There was more confusion in the North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber market last week as prices of most home building solid wood commodity items stayed flat, except Eastern S-P-F which did correct down somewhat. The supply-demand balance seemed to be finding an even keel, although customers still were reluctant to make big purchases…

Fast on the heels of sharply-upward US existing home sales data earlier this week, US new home sales for August are also up significantly. Please see details of existing home sales release here: https://madisonsreport.com/2020/09/22/u-s-house-prices-hit-record-high-as-existing-home-sales-jump-to-14-year-peak/Sales of new US single-family homes increased to their highest level in nearly 14 years in August, suggesting the housing market continued…

While most construction framing dimension softwood lumber prices stayed flat last week, prices of Plywood and Oriented Strand Board did increase — as Madison’s had indicated they might. The early-season storms in the US southeast as well as ongoing wildfires in the US west have propped up demand of wood panel products for rebuilding and…

Existing home sales in the US, which account for the bulk of home sales, jumped +10.5% on a year-on-year basis to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6 million units for August. Compared to July, the increase was +2.4% , which the highest level since December 2006 and marked three straight months of gains. Single-family…

Privately-owned US housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. This is -5% below the revised July estimate of 1,492,000, but is +3% above the August 2019 rate of 1,377,000. Total starts were up +3% year-over-year compared to August 2019. The dip in housing starts…

The British Columbia government announced Thursday changes to the Manufactured Forest Products Regulation (MFPR) around export requirements for sawn-wood products and lumber made from western red cedar or cypress go into effect Sept. 30, 2020. These changes are intended to increase the amount of processing of wood products done within British Columbia, leading to more…

US Housing Total Starts August 2020 & Benchmark Softwood Lumber Prices September 2020 The USA purchases approximately 65% of Canadian lumber production mostly for construction framing, while Canadian buyers account for about 10%, and those in Japan take 6%.However: US and Canadian customers purchase mostly standard grades (#2&Btr), while Japan buys almost exclusively premium or…

Madison’s indicated last week that most standard construction framing dimension softwood lumber commodities could level off or even start dropping, and that’s exactly what has happened. Players and industry insiders say that supply is improving as sawmills are able to get more lumber production online, just as the usual seasonal drop in demand arrives. However,…

The USA purchases approximately 65% of Canadian lumber production, while Canadian buyers account for about 10%, and those in Japan take 6%. However: US and Canadian customers purchase mostly standard grades (#2&Btr), while Japan buys almost exclusively premium or “appearance” grades (J-grade) which sells for quite a bit more than standard grade does.It’s true that…

The US Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported September 9 US rail traffic for the week ending September 5, 2020, as well as volumes for August 2020.US railroads originated 898,227 carloads in August 2020, down -15%, or 156,797 carloads, from August 2019. US railroads also originated 1,122,954 containers and trailers in August 2020, up +3%,…

Here is a SNEAK PEAK at today’s print for North American construction framing softwood lumber and panel prices: “Fires raged throughout the Pacific Northwest as the pause in lumber sales persisted.” — Madison’s Lumber Reporter In September 2015, the “recent-low” of lumber prices, benchmark commodity Western S-P-F KD 2x4s were selling for US$249 mfbm. The…