The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) today (9-9-21) sold at public auction, to the highest bidder, more than 21.6 million board feet of timber damaged in the Cougar Rock Complex Fire. The Cougar Rock Complex Fire began on July 7 and consumed more than 8,100 acres.
Wood Markets News
American Wood Council Supports Mass Timber Pilot Program for Department of Defense
Following the House Armed Service Committee’s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included language to establish a pilot program to evaluate the effects of using mass timber products in Department of Defense (DOD) military construction projects, American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Jackson Morrill issued a statement in support.
Improving B.C. Weather Conditions Help Firefighters in Battling Over 200 Wildfires
Thus far in British Columbia’s wildfire season, a total of 1,578 blazes have been recorded. Of that number, 891 of them were believed to have sparked by lightning, while 518 were considered human-caused. The remaining 169 fires are of unknown cause. Some 866,814 hectares of land has been scorched by wildfire so far this year.
July Construction Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report Released
A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a look specifically on the construction sector, reveals that the number of open construction jobs declined in July to 321,000 unfilled positions. Overall, hiring in the construction sector remained substantial in July, increasing to a rate of 5.2%.
CoreLogic Reports National Home Prices Increased 18% Year-Over-Year in July
According to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI®) Report, national home prices increased 18% year-over-year in July 2021. The July 2021 HPI gain was up from July 2020’s gain of 5.3% and was the highest 12-month growth in the U.S. index since the series started in 1976.
30-year & 15-year Fixed Mortgage Rates Tick Slightly Higher in Week Ending September 9, 2021
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending September 9, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.88% with an average 0.7 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 2.87%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.86%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending September 4, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 310,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, September 4, 2021. This is a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.
West Fraser Announces Output Reductions at Lumber and Panel Mills during Q3
West Fraser announced the reduction of between 5% and 10% of output during Q3.
Tolko Industries’ Athabasca OSB Mill Receives Upgrade with Installation of New Ripline
Tolko Industries’ Athabasca OSB mill, located in Slave Lake, Alberta, has the largest continuous OSB press in North America and the only continuous press in North America to produce OSB and Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL) on the same line. Recently, the Athabasca received an upgrade with the addition of a new ripline.
Western Australia to Band Native Forest Logging Starting at the End of 2023
Western Australia (WA) Premier Mark McGowan has announced an effort to preserve an estimated two million hectares of vegetation by banning logging of native forest in WA starting at the end of 2023. The changes will be contained in a new Forest Management Plan, due for release shortly, that from 2024 will ban the removal of timber from native forests besides for “limited forest management activities…