Tolko Industries plans to resume production at its curtailed Armstrong and Soda Creek sawmill facilities—both in British Columbia—on March 6th, according to local reporting by Castanet (3-2-23).
Wood Markets News
Atlanta’s First Georgia-Grown Mass Timber Project Begins Construction
Jamestown, a design-focused real estate investment and management firm, announced the beginning of vertical construction on 619 Ponce, a four-story mass timber loft building located in Atlanta. The building is being constructed with locally grown Georgia timber.
Private Residential Construction Spending Declined for Eighth Consecutive Month in January
A closer look at the US Census Bureau’s Construction Spending report released on Wednesday, with additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders, reveals that spending on private residential construction declined 0.6% in January. Single-family home construction declined 1.7%.
Fixed Mortgage Rates Climb Higher for Fourth Consecutive Week
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® for the week ending March 2nd. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65%, up from last week when it averaged 6.50%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 3.76%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decrease in the Week Ending February 25th
The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 190,000 during the week ending on Saturday, February 25th. This is a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 192,000. The 4-week moving average was 193,000.
Canfor Does Not See a Viable Path for Reopening Taylor Pulp Mill
Curtailed since December 2021, the future of Canfor’s Taylor Pulp Mill became even more uncertain with the company’s release of its Q4 earnings report on Tuesday (2-28-23), according to reporting by Energeticcity.
US Construction Spending in January
On Wednesday, the US Census Bureau reported that total construction spending during January was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,825.7 billion, 0.1% below the revised December estimate of $1,827.5 billion. The January figure is 5.7% above the January 2022 estimate of $1,726.6 billion.
New Brunswick First Nations Sign Agreement with One Forestry Company Named in Land Title Claim
On Tuesday, CTV News reported that six Wolastoqey communities in New Brunswick, Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding with one of the companies named in a major lawsuit filed by the First Nations in 2020 (updated in November of 2021) seeking to reclaim title over large swaths of the province.
Russian Logging Volumes Declined 13.5% Year-Over-Year in 2022
According to a report emanating from TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, citing data sourced from Roslesinforge, the forest accounting department of Federal Forestry Agency: “Last year, a total of 194.6 million cubic meters were harvested in Russia, which is 13.5% less than in 2021.”
Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending February 24th
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending February 24th, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 5.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.