Wood Markets News


Canadian Total Value of Building Permits Drop -3.9% in July

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that the total value of building permits in Canada decreased 3.9% to $9.9 billion (CAD) in July. All provinces except British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador posted lower values, with the majority of the national decline reported in Alberta (-23.4%). Building permits fell -3.1% in the residential sector and -5.6% in the non-residential sector.

Members of the European Parliament View New Green Forest Strategy as Vague and an Overstep of EU Remits

During the European Parliament’s agriculture meeting held on Wednesday (9-1-21), EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski presented one of the main initiatives of the Commission’s Green Deal. However, EU lawmakers from across all of the political spectrums have united in their criticism against the EU’s new flagship Forestry Strategy.

U.S. Regulator’s Rejection of Canadian National Railway’s Bid to Purchase Kansas City Southern Railroad Opens Door, Again, for Possible Canadian Pacific Railway Take Over

With U.S. regulators rejecting a key part of the Canadian National Railway Co’s (CN) bid, the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) has approached the Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS) board asking them to reaffirm the CP’s interest in taking over the railway. CP Rail has maintained that its $31-billion offer, while worth less than CN’s $33.6-billion proposal, has less regulatory risk.

Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending August 28, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 340,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, August 28, 2021. This is a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.

U.S. Regulators Reject Canadian National Railway’s Voting Trust to Buy Kansas City Southern Railroad

On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the U.S. rail regulator rejected a voting trust structure that would have allowed the Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) to proceed with its $29 billion proposed acquisition of U.S.-peer Kansas City Southern Railroad (KCS). The regulator said that the decision was based on antitrust concerns and is a major setback to the deal that would have created the first direct railway linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

MTI Researchers to Seek Answer: Can Ontario’s Wood Supply Keep up with Growing Mass Timber Usage?

The up-and-coming new material for sustainable building is mass timber. Mass timber could be part of the climate change solution and become the cornerstone of the Province of Ontario’s economic and environmental future. The question now is can supply keep up with the rising demand? Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty’s Mass Timber Institute (MTI) are about to go in search of that answer.

Mortgage Applications Drop -2.4% in the Week Ending August 27, 2021

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending August 27, 2021, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -3% compared with the previous week.