-
Softwood Lumber Prices Stabilize as Industry Rectifies Supply-Demand Balance
Read more: Softwood Lumber Prices Stabilize as Industry Rectifies Supply-Demand BalancePreviously overblown North America softwood lumber and panel prices for most of 2018 have dropped sharply these past couple of months. That plummet slowed last week as the supply-demand balance corrected. Producers and customers, having wrestled over prices since the usual seasonal slow-down starting in September, are now assessing inventories for year-end accounting purposes. Players…
-
US Challenges WTO Dispute Resolution Mechanism
Read more: US Challenges WTO Dispute Resolution MechanismComments were delivered on the first day of the World Trade Organization’s two-day biennial trade policy review of the US. The European Union’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Marc Vanheukelen, said on Monday that he had hoped US President Donald Trump’s protectionist promises on the campaign would end before he entered the White House. The…
-
Sawmill Curtailments, Reopenings, Investment
Read more: Sawmill Curtailments, Reopenings, InvestmentCanfor Corp said Monday it is extending the temporary curtailment of sawmill operations in British Columbia announced in November, and will cut operating hours at some sawmills throughout 1Q 2019. It also plans to reduce operating hours at some of its mills throughout 1Q 2019. The company said its sawmills will resume production on January…
-
North American Sawmill Capacity Utilization, Lumber Production: Sept 2018
Read more: North American Sawmill Capacity Utilization, Lumber Production: Sept 2018US #softwood #lumber production dropped remarkably from last month, shrinking by -15 per cent in September compared to the month prior and dropping -1.1 per cent from August 2017, according to statistics from the Western Wood Products Association’s Lumber Track, released Wednesday. US lumber production totalled 2,724 million board feet (MMBF) in September compared to…
-
US Building Materials Prices Lower: Nov 2018
Read more: US Building Materials Prices Lower: Nov 2018Softwood lumber prices fell -3% in November the second consecutive decrease for the index to the latest US Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday, said the US National Association of Home Builders. The producer price index for softwood lumber has fallen -23.6% (not seasonally adjusted) since setting cycle…
-
Current Softwood Lumber Prices Compared to Recent and Historical Highs: Dec 2018
Read more: Current Softwood Lumber Prices Compared to Recent and Historical Highs: Dec 2018Trading of US and Canadian softwood lumber last week continued it’s usual annual slide to seasonal holiday sawmill closures and curtailments. The price of benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr construction framing dimension lumber commodity stayed level with the previous week, as did many other standard North American homebuilding wood materials. Friday’s print in Madison’s…
-
British Columbia Current Forestry Trade Mission Visit to China Abruptly Cancelled
Read more: British Columbia Current Forestry Trade Mission Visit to China Abruptly CancelledIn very surprising news Sunday, the currently ongoing British Columbia trade mission to Asia — attended by the BC Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development as well as forestry company executives — was abruptly cancelled. The trip is expected to be rescheduled. The delegation led by BC Forestry Minister Doug Donaldson…
-
Conifex Cuts Production: Fort St. James, BC, Sawmill
Read more: Conifex Cuts Production: Fort St. James, BC, SawmillAnother unfortunate addition to the list of permanent and temporary softwood lumber manufacturing sawmills in British Columbia, due to difficulties sourcing logs for timber processing, Tuesday Conifex, out of Vancouver, BC, announced another of it’s sawmills will be closing. Conifex’ Fort St. James, BC, sawmill will be temporarily reducing its production from January 1, 2019,…
-
Softwood Lumber Dimension Prices Stop Falling, Some Even Pop Back Up
Read more: Softwood Lumber Dimension Prices Stop Falling, Some Even Pop Back UpThe best description to characterize the movement of North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber wholesaler prices last week is “waffling”. Indeed, benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr price landed exactly where it had been two weeks ago, with Friday’s print in Madison’s Lumber Reporter at US$354 mfbm, having lost 1% (or $4) from the…
-
NAFTA Dispute Resolution Forms 5-Member Panel: US Softwood Lumber Tariffs on Canada
Read more: NAFTA Dispute Resolution Forms 5-Member Panel: US Softwood Lumber Tariffs on CanadaA binational panel has been formed to review the battle between Canada and the United States over softwood lumber, with three Canadians and two Americans appointed to make a ruling under NAFTA’s contentious Chapter 19 dispute-resolution mechanism, according to the Globe and Mail Tuesday. The issue of Canadian lumber shipments into the United States is…
-
US Housing Affordability, Custom Home Building, House Size: 3Q 2018
Read more: US Housing Affordability, Custom Home Building, House Size: 3Q 2018While a niche, these data are most applicable to the use of construction framing wood products, this excellent indicators for future growth / building and softwood lumber production. Released this week, the latest US home building and real estate data shows a US housing market returning to strength. But with a different mix of building…
-
US Housing Prices, Inventory: Oct 2018
Read more: US Housing Prices, Inventory: Oct 2018In September, US national home prices continued to rise but at a slower pace. Moreover, two metro areas experienced home price declines in September. The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 4.6% in September, slower than the 6.9% increase in…
-
US New, Existing, and Pending Home Sales: Oct 2018
Read more: US New, Existing, and Pending Home Sales: Oct 2018Sales of new single‐family US houses in October 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000, according to estimates released jointly Wednesday by the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Wednesday. Although weak, this was only a little below the initial report for September of 553,000 (now revised…
-
Current Softwood Lumber Prices Compared to Recent and Historical Highs: NOVEMBER 2018
Read more: Current Softwood Lumber Prices Compared to Recent and Historical Highs: NOVEMBER 2018Happily the hunger for wood following an extended US Thanksgiving long weekend holiday was strong enough to push prices on many North American construction framing lumber prices up. Demand, which had been muted to minimal on plump inventories and slowing construction projects, came back somewhat robustly that week. Sawmills were boasting growing order files, at…
-
Sawmill Accident, British Columbia
Read more: Sawmill Accident, British ColumbiaA worker at the Chasm Sawmill, British Columbia, division of West Fraser was buried to about head or chest depth in a wood shavings bin area and needed to be rescued, according to a WorkSafeBC report, said the Columbia Valley Pioneer Friday. The incident was not immediately reported to the Board and between the time…
