British Columbia export values of forest products are up +5.8% for 2018 YTD June compared to the same period in 2017, or $7.57 billion vs. $7.15 last year, said the Economic Services Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Friday. Lumber value is down -4%, while volumes are down -10%.
The latest data, for full year 2017, on Canadian and US residential heating wood pellet exports is now out. Also, to November 2017 numbers for US and Canadian pellet production, sales, and prices as well as competing home heating fuel prices are now out. Don’t miss out on this vital and timely information regarding demand for sawmill residuals — kiln-dried wood chips and sawdust — and projections of demand for wood pellet production feedstock this year.
August 3, 2018 — Operators have well ascertained their inventories, and supply in the pipeline, against the immediate needs of end-user customers in the US. The recent unknowns of “where is my wood??” have been resolved and, with some interruptions, supply is flowing again across North America. A looming long weekend in Canada has folks more motivated to get business done and get off to the cottage than to haggle over the few bits of wood they might need for…
US paper and building products manufacturer Georgia-Pacific LLC is investing US$150 million to open a new sawmill in Albany, GA, as the firm expands its production of softwood lumber, a company press release announced Tuesday. Georgia-Pacific to Build $150-million Sawmill Paper and building products manufacturer Georgia-Pacific LLC is investing US$150 million to open a new mill in Albany, GA as the firm expands its production of softwood lumber, a company press release announced Tuesday. Slated to commence operations by the end of 2018, the…
It was quite surprising to Madison’s this week to learn that RISI has bought Random Lengths: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/risi-announces-acquisition-of-random-lengths-1027426671 RISI already runs Crow’s Market Weekly: https://www.risiinfo.com/product/crows-market-price-service/ Madison’s wonders how a single company is planning to put out two competing publications at the same time? This, after RISI itself having it’s European offices raided for securities breach in February: https://www.ft.com/content/67a90bb2-faa2-11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167 As always, Madison’s Lumber Reporter is the best, the most accurate, the most on-time source for all North American construction framing softwood lumber…
Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined in June, falling -5.3% to a 631,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the US Census Bureau Wednesday last week. The decline came off a downwardly revised May estimate, which was dropped from an initial read of 689,000 to a new estimate of 666,000. US Home Ownership, New Home Sales According to the US Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), released Thursday, the US homeownership rate was 64.3%…
The supply-demand balance situation became much more clear this month for North American solid wood operators. Also, end-users have updates on field inventories both at producers and with secondary resellers. As the market was better able to determine how much construction framing dimension lumber is in the supply chain compared to immediate future building needs, prices on almost all commodity items dropped significantly. Where sawmill order files had been five weeks or longer one month ago, they were now —…
About 1,500 sawmill workers impacting 13 sites in northern British Columbia are expected to take a strike vote sometime in the next week or so, said the Williams Lake Tribune Tuesday last week. The move could impact all of Tolko Industries’ employees in the north (including both mills in Williams Lake, BC), half of all of Canfor’s work force located in Fort St. John, Houston, Isle Pierre and Prince George, as well as the West Fraser planer in Williams Lake,…
Softwood lumber production by US sawmills in the first four months of 2018 was 11.6 billion board ft. (bbf), a year-over-year increase of +5.5% from 10.980 bbf in the same period last year, reported the Western Wood Products Association in its latest Lumber Track report via IHB Monday. Western US sawmills contributed 4.899 bbf to the four-month total, up +10% from 4.4 bbf a year earlier, while production at southern US sawmills gained +2.1% to reach 6.1 bbf, up from…
Both producers and secondaries now have more plump inventories than most of this year, making assessments of their own price lists somewhat easier. Buyers, well aware of this, are pushing back at sawmills with significant counter-offers. Those suppliers in a position to negotiate are accepting customer demands. Prices are responding toward accordingly. This week and next, a lot of Quebec is on seasonal holidays, and there are forest fires in British Columbia so the ongoing very lean log supply situation…