Hurricane Florence forced lumber sawmills and paper mills in the Carolinas to close temporarily as strong winds and a deluge of rain hit the coast, said Bloomberg Friday. Producers are racing to secure equipment and sites as Florence makes landfall, said Ewell Smith, executive director of the Carolina Loggers Association to Bloomberg. Companies from Domtar…

Despite its request to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Canada’s Shake and Shingle Alliance was told the country’s shake and shingle industry would not be exempt from U.S. tariffs against softwood lumber, reported Canadian Forest Industries magazine Thursday. The Alliance asked the Commerce Department in June to review which products would be affected by the…

Softwood lumber production in Canada continued it’s drop from last year, falling another -1.7% in January to June 2018, from 14,560 million board feet to 14,316 mmfbm for the same time last year, said the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track Tuesday In the US, softwood lumber production stayed on an upward trajectory for…

A series of powerful storms approaching the US east coast this very week has locals in emergency mode and authorities warning of possible heavy damage. As these severe climate scenarios across North America continue to unfold so rapidly one after the other; first wildfires then almost immediately floods and storms, home and property owners alike…

Following the Labour Day long weekend in Canada and the US, forest industry professionals came back to their desks this week to lumber prices further stabilized over the massive volatility of earlier this year. Very robust US new home building and remodelling — that most had not predicted last year — continues to drive unrelenting…

This week the Economic Services Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development released both the annual Economic State of B.C.’s Forest Sector for 2017 and the latest data on BC forest products exports, for January to July 2018: 2017 Economic State of the British Columbia Forest Sector…

In a very interesting metric that provides excellent forecast to future US home prices, according to Construction Wire, as home prices rise across the US, choosing to rent has become increasingly popular. New analysis by realtor.com® reveals the monthly costs of buying a home have risen by 14% over the past year. This is more…

A seemingly incomprehensible North America softwood lumber market in 2018 continued it’s recent stabilization to end this pre-Labour Day holiday week somewhat moderated over last week. In the past week softwood lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have swing between US$425 and US$450, which provided little additional insight to this puzzling year but at…

The worst of possible bad news has happened and the wildfires across North America this year are as bad or worse than 2017. It looks like the wildfire experts were correct for the past couple of years when they said these epic forest fires are the new normal. Wildfire ecologists in British Columbia have been…

The U.S. International Trade Commission has overturned duties imposed on Canadian newsprint, said the Canadian Press today. The commission says it found that imports of the paper product, part of the wider category of uncoated groundwood paper, do not injure US industry. The U.S. Commerce Department imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties of various levels on…