MADISON’S SOFTWOOD LUMBER MARKET WEEKLY COMMENT:
Key comment: “Traders of sheet goods laboured through another week of flat prices, while those in dimension and studs reported solid demand and sales activity.”
Prices reflect week of October 1, 2021 (CLICK TABLE TO ENLARGE)
Weekly North America #Softwood #Lumber Benchmark Prices
All prices are net FOB mill in U.S. dollars per 1,000 board feet unless otherwise noted. * denotes Canadian dollars per 1,000 square feet Green = not dried KD = kiln dried PET = precision end trim R/L = random lengths SPF = Spruce-Pine-Fir Std&Btr = standard & better (a grade)
SOFTWOOD LUMBER INDUSTRY MARKET PRICES, NEWS AND INFORMATION
US Housing Starts Aug and Lumber Prices Sept: 2021 (video)
US total housing starts for August 2021 increased by +4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.615 million. For August 2021, total residential starts in the US shot up by +12.3% from the same month one year ago, when it was 1.416 million. Improving further over gains throughout this year, permits for future homebuilding […]
Strong Demand Continues to Push Lumber Prices Up
Similar to this time last year, when lumber prices started rising to reach what was then the all-time historical high, solid wood construction materials prices have been ticking up in the past few weeks. This is traditionally not a time for lumber prices to be increasing. The latest US housing starts and home sales and […]
Softwood Lumber Prices and Market Update: Sept 2021 (video)
After dropping all summer, lumber prices started coming back up a little bit around Labour Day: For the week of September 24, 2021 the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western S-P-F 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) rose to US$510 mfbm, a +$30, or +6%, increase from the previous week when it was $480. That week’s […]
Softwood Lumber Prices Rise Further
As the end of September approached the demand and sales of construction framing dimension softwood lumber commodities improved significantly, enough for prices to rise somewhat. This is an unusual time of year, after Labour Day, for solid wood building material prices to be rising. However, the current trend does echo the price movement of last […]
Lumber Prices Flatten as Sales Volumes Continue to Rise
Lumber end-users and resellers alike shed their reluctance of the past few months to make purchases, as prices have returned to what would be considered historically “normal” levels. Once again lumber inventories were extremely lean, as those who could wait to buy wood did so. The previously stratospheric price levels of spring were a long-distant […]
US New Home Sales, House Prices August and Softwood Lumber Prices September: 2021
The U.S. Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development released September 24 new home sales and house price data. New home sales comprise 10% of real estate activity and are considered a leading housing market indicator as they are recorded when contracts are signed. Continuing to recover after slight drops in […]
Canada and US Railcar Loadings: September 18, 2021
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported September 22 US and Canadian rail traffic volumes for the week ending September 18, 2021. US railroads originated 234,790 carloads and 270,832 intermodal units for the week ending September 18, 2021, up +3.5% and down -8.5% respectively from the same week last year. Total combined US rail traffic […]
US Housing Starts AUGUST & Softwood Lumber Prices SEPTEMBER: 2021
After falling by -7% in July, US total housing starts for August 2021 increased by +4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.615 million. For August 2021, total residential starts in the US shot up by +12.3% from the same month one year ago, when it was 1.416 million. Improving further over gains throughout […]
North America Softwood Lumber Production, Sawmill Capacity Utilization, WWPA: June 2021
Still improving significantly after massive drops last year, for year-to-date 2021 softwood lumber production volumes in the United States and Canada jumped yet again. Sawmill capacity utilization rates in the United States and in Canada also increased, yet again. For January to June 2021 softwood lumber production in the US was up by another +5.3% […]
Seller Confidence Returns as Lumber Price Increases Accelerate
After a big lull in sales and steeply falling lumber prices — albeit from unsustainable highs — for the week ending September 10, 2021, sales volumes improved further and with that lumber prices again increased. As often repeated by Madison’s: Labour Day long weekend provides good indication of whether lumber sales will slow to the […]