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It’s a Brand-New, Uncharted World for Softwood Lumber Prices
A waffling North American softwood lumber market started to settle down last week, as the Madison’s price graphs showed in our previous issue. On May 2 this year, Madison’s took the bold step — and one we do not tread upon lightly — of declaring a new floor on prices of benchmark North American softwood…
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US Construction Jobs Openings: March 2018
The count of unfilled jobs in the US construction sector was effectively unchanged in April, remaining near post-Great Recession high levels. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and National Association of Home Builders’ analysis, released June 5, the number of open construction sector jobs came…
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Huge Correction on the Softwood Lumber Futures Board, Cash Might Be Wallowing
A huge sell-off of futures this week took no one by surprise, then on Thursday a reversal to positive trades brought settlement this week to approximately US$555 but on minimal volume. In cash, prices wallowed at close to last week’s levels, with significant adjustments on some specific items as price sheets stabilized. The long-awaited…
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North America Softwood Lumber Production, Sawmill Capacity: March 2018
Softwood lumber production in Canada dropped -2.4% in January to March 2018, from 7,249 million board feet to 7,074 mmfbm for the same time last year, said the Western Wood Products Association’s monthly Lumber Track Wednesday, In the US, softwood lumber production increased by +2.7%, at 8,557 million board feet versus 8,333 million the first…
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Canadian International Merchandise Trade: Annual Review 2017
On June 6 Statistics Canada released data showing, on a quarterly basis, the value of Canadian exports of lumber and other sawmill and millwork products declined in 1Q (-2.2%) and 3Q (-6.4 %) 2017. Canadian export values of softwood lumber fluctuated substantially throughout 2017, as softwood lumber duty rates and coverage varied, said StatsCan. The modest increase…
