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Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Timber News in Review
Posted March 5th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentChicago Mercantile Exchange lumber futures closed lower on Friday as quiet cash markets prompted speculators to retreat from their long positions. As of Friday mid-day, the quoted price was $255. A U.S. jobs report was issued this week and unemployment held steady at 9.7 percent. The Labor Department reported payrolls dropped by 36,000 last month [...]
West Fraser Mill Shutdown
Posted February 26th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentWest Fraser’s Eurocan paper mill shut down providing a devastating blow to Canada’s timber industry. The Kitimat mill was the latest tragedy for an industry that has seen thousands of forest sector jobs in industries such as log harvesting, lumber mills, flooring, and other forest products industries.
From the Vancouver Sun
Softwood up in China
Posted February 17th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentAccording to Wood Resources International , import figures for the first three quarters of 2009 show an 81% increase over the previous year’s softwood figures. The final figures may mark the first year that China imported more lumber than Japan whose production slowed significantly. Canadian mills appear to have benefited most from this, [...]
Lumber Futures Hit $280
Posted February 12th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentLumber prices appear to be firming up. Global stimulus and GDP growth rates around the world are starting to creep forward and have awakened a slumbering lumber demand. The important message from the recession has been that it is important to have a hand in global markets. Asia, led by China, has emerged from the [...]
Median Home Prices Up/ Existing Home Sales Down
Posted January 25th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentExisting home sales for the month of December 2009 were down 17 percent to 5.45 million annual rate according to the National Association of Realtors. On the other hand, median home prices were up. The Census Bureau released the following data for 2009. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a [...]
Hardwood Lumber and Timber Report for Arkansas
Posted January 6th, 2010 in News Leave A CommentA report is now available from the USDA Forest Service regarding Arkansas Hardwood timber and lumber industry for the 3rd quarter of 2009. In January of 2009 the Forest Service estimated that a total of 15 mills would be closing throughout the U.S. South in 2009. The report reads, “in September, Columbus Lumber in Brookhaven, Miss. [...]
Lumber Prices in 2010
Posted January 5th, 2010 in News Leave A Comment2009 ended with annualized housing starts predicted to be apx. 500,000 units. Another tough year for the lumber and building materials industry. So where will 2010 bring us? The extended tax credit for homebuyers should spur activity and mop up some of the foreclosure & secondary home inventory. The credit is for $8000 and continues until [...]
Japan Market Report
Posted November 20th, 2009 in News Leave A Comment
Japan utilizes many species of hardwood lumber (Canada hardwood & U.S. hardwood), flooring, mouldings, etc. These include oak cherry hickory maple mahogany walnut teak cedar pine spruce cypress ash redwood and others. Cedar lumber (western red cedar & Alaska yellow cedar) is also popular for exterior applications. Cherry lumber (Brazilian cherry & North American Cherry), [...]
Increased 2008 Lumber Exports from Washington, Oregon
Posted March 1st, 2009 in News Leave A Commentby Debra Warren
The USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station reports this morning that lumber exports increased in both Oregon and Washington in 2008. Totaling 293 million board feet, exports increased over 26% by volume from 2007. The primary importers of PWN softwood lumber were Japan and Canada, each of whom accounted for roughly one third of the [...]