The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing Friday morning Eastern time, however here is a sneak peak at benchmark WSPF prices: After jumping another +$18 last week, The price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr stayed flat this week, Nov 7, 2019, at US$396 mfbm, from US$396 mfbm last week. — Madison’s Lumber Reporter This week’s lumber market story published to the website Wednesday: https://madisonsreport.com/2019/11/05/softwood-lumber-prices-pop-higher-as-seasonal-winter-slow-down-looms/…

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Data released Monday from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings in the US increased in September 2019 on a year-over-year basis. The estimated number of job openings declined from the August total to 338,000 in September, after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The September 2019 count of unfilled jobs represents a year-over-year gain relative to the 299,000 estimated unfilled construction jobs in September 2018. The US construction job open position…

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Veteran solid wood processors and sellers like to say, “Labour Day is the beginning of the end, and US Thanksgiving is the end of the end” for large-volume lumber sales. The business of manufacturing and distributing North American construction framing dimension softwood lumber is directly tied to US home building and remodelling activity. As darkness and bad weather looms across the continent, construction jobsites start to close down. Well aware of this annual cycle, sawmills tend to load up their…

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After declines for six consecutive quarters, the home building component of gross domestic product (GDP) in the US increased during 3Q 2019. This gain was due to the housing rebound that has taken hold since the spring, with the pace of single-family permits rising since April and the rate of single-family starts increasing since May. The overall housing share of GDP in the US increased to 14.6% during 3Q 2019, as GDP growth slowed to a 1.9% rate. The home…

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The full Madison’s Lumber Reporter North America softwood lumber price list will be updated as usual first thing Friday morning Eastern time, however here is a sneak peak at benchmark WSPF prices: After rising +$8 last week, The price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2×4 #2&Btr jumped this week, Oct 31, 2019, up +$18 to US$396 mfbm, from US$378 mfbm; Utility/#3 grade 2×4 continued recent increases, up another +$12 to US$262 mfbm. — Madison’s Lumber Reporter This…

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This week started with big news as Canfor announced a bid to go private, and Conifex sold its Fort St James timber rights to Hampton, which plans to build a new sawmill within 36 months. Last week, construction framing dimension softwood lumber prices rose slightly, while Oriented Strand Board and Plywood prices absolutely soared. There are fewer panel producers than dimension lumber manufacturers — on a relative basis, and they are more disciplined with their production volumes during times of…

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