The US Association of American Railroads (AAR) Friday reported US rail traffic for the week ending June 27, 2020, as well as volumes for June 2020. US railroads originated 794,256 carloads in June 2020, down -22%, or 228,975 carloads, from June 2019. US railroads also originated 1,004,933 containers and trailers in June 2020, down -7%,…

Outlays for construction projects in the US fell -2.1% in May at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$1.36 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Residential construction fell -3.9% in May, while spending on public construction projects rose +1.2%.  Spending in April was revised to a -3.5% fall from the prior estimate of a -2.9%…

New Single-Family Sales Up +13% Compared to May 2019 Sales of new single-family homes in the United States jumped +17% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 676 thousand in May of 2020. However, data for April was revised sharply lower to 580 thousand, from 623 thousand. Still, May’s figure is the highest in three months.…

The big surge in plywood prices of two weeks ago “Plywood Prices’ Major Surge While Most Softwood Lumber Prices Moderate”, was followed last week by a spike in most softwood lumber commodity prices.As Madison’s detailed in that post last week, “A spike in demand, whether for immediate repair needs or longer-term rebuilding, for Plywood and…

Prices updated June 26, 2020 (CLICK TABLE TO ENLARGE) Key comment: “Plywood continued to lead the charge as virtually every solid wood commodity advanced in price again last week.”

The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing tomorrow morning (Friday) Eastern time. Here is a SNEAK PEAK at benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir (WSPF) prices:Bouncing spectacularly as customers have trouble finding supplies of the wood they need, the wholesaler price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western…

A phone call from a Canadian sawmill last week made Madison’s think that perhaps this is very useful information that some may not have received. In particular please note this:Unless were are incorrect, we believe it has been the “general” understanding that if your company did not apply for the Administrative Review, and if your…

Seeking Manager of Special Projects June 11, 2020 The BC Forest Practices Board is searching for a dynamic professional to lead a broad range of projects through all phases of the project management life cycle. As the Manager of Special Projects, you thrive on objectively analyzing forestry issues of public importance, and enjoy working in…

Key comment: “Caution ruled every lumber sales deal last week, and demand from Eastern regions was again more active than in the West.” Softwood Lumber Prices updated June 16, 2020 (CLICK TABLE TO ENLARGE)

For the first two months of 2020 softwood lumber production in the US continued improvements compared to one-year-ago, to increase even more, says the latest issue of the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track. For January and February 2020 US lumber production volume increased by +5% to 6,163 mfbm compared to the first two…