Lumber Prices November and US Housing Starts October: 2021
It is expected that next week the US Department of Commerce will announce the usual annual adjustment to the softwood lumber duty on Canadian forest products entering the US, the Administrative Review.
According the a previous announcement early this year, the duty will be increased to almost double what it has been for the past year.As supply-chain disruptions increased costs, new U.S. home construction slowed down in October, driven by a drop in single-family projects.
For October 2021, total residential starts in the US remained essentially flat from the previous month, at 1.520 million units. Continuing to improve as throughout this year, permits for future homebuilding in October were up by +4% compared to the previous month, when it was 1.586 million, to a rate of 1.650 million units. This is a +3.4% increase over October 2020, when it was 1.041 million units.
Looking at lumber prices, cresting just above levels for the same week last year, for the week ending November 12, 2021 the price of Western S-P-F 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) remained flat compared to the previous week, at US$620 mfbm.
That week’s price is up by +$11, or +2%, from one month ago when it was $609.
