Median US House Sales Price vs Benchmark North American Construction Framing Dimension Softwood Lumber Prices: 3Q 2019 US house prices rose in 3Q 2019, up +1.1 per cent according to the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), released November 26. House prices in the US rose +4.9 per cent from 3Q 2018 to 3Q 2019. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up +0.6 per cent from August. “According to the latest home price forecast…

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A significant uncertainty for North American business owners was resolved Tuesday as Canada, the US, and Mexico signed the new trilateral trade agreement, the CUSMA. Full details will be revealed soon, and the new deal will take effect January 1, 2020. Also this week the Western Wood Products Association released its latest monthly Lumber Track of Canadian and US softwood lumber production and sawmill capacity utilization data, for September 2019. There is not much improvement in the figures, since all…

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This year is not over yet, but it has been one of a never-before combination of circumstances. Dire circumstances. Storms, floods, fires, in residential areas and in the forest. Adjusting to the new economics of the business of making and selling lumber has not been easy. The economic reality of the condition of the harvestable forestland in comparison to where the roads are etc, has meant long-term curtailments and closures as never seen before.In hindsight this might seem appropriate for…

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There have been several developments, both industrial and scientific, in the exciting field of generating energy from woody biomass material. Here are a few updates:According to University of British Columbia Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor Xiaotao (Tony) Bi, wood pellets are the best choice for residential heating. Environmentally speaking, wood pellets are an ideal fuel for industry and district heating. Waste-wood materials, such as sawdust, are bound into pellets in a high-temperature pelletization process; no additives or glues are used….

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On December 10th is the deadline for retirement of two of the three remaining Appellate Judges at the World Trade Organization, where there are currently disputes revolving around North American softwood lumber. This WTO appellate panel, which usually has seven people, now only has the legal minimum of three, until December 10. Following years of pent-up US frustration over the behaviour of the WTO’s ultimate dispute-resolution body, the administration of President Donald Trump began blocking the appointment of new panellists….

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