The susceptibility of the global supply chain to suffer from major pinch-points and headwinds has never been clearer than during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There was a significant underestimation of how much products and services would be needed, resulting in major supply chain issues in everything from lumber, to semiconductors, to shipping capacity and labor.
Wood Markets News
Muskrat Falls Project Whole Logs Sold to Chinese Buyer – Left Over Fiber to be Chipped and Shipped to UK
The estimated 400,000 cubic meters of timber cut between 2013 and 2015 to make way for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric station in Labrador, Canada, has been sitting there idle ever since. However, that wood will soon be on its way to China. A deal was completed last summer by JP Forestry, a company that specializes in wood chips, and the Innu Nation to sell off timber leftover from the Muskrat Falls project.
Led by Lumber and Other Wood Products, Canadian Industrial Product Price Index Increases 1.6% in March
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that in March, the Industrial Product Price index (IPPI) increased 1.6% month-over-month and 10% year-over-year. This marks the fourth consecutive monthly increases in the IPPI.
Total U.S. Construction Spending Slightly Higher in March
The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that total construction spending during March 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $1,513 billion, 0.2% above the revised February estimate of $1,509.9 billion. The March figure is 5.3% above the March 2020 estimate.
Canadian Forest Certification Update for 2021
Tony Rotherham (RPF B.C. and Ont. (ret’d)) has worked on woodlands operations in B.C., Ontario, Quebec, Kenya and Iran. He worked for the CPPA (now FPAC) in the Woodlands Section for 21 years and since then as a consultant, largely on private forest land policy. Mr. Rotherham notes that Canada is a global leader in forest certification. In 2020, he provided an update on Canada’s changing certification landscape. But how have things changed since last year?
Local Residents Propose to Build A Pellet Mill to Help with Sawmill Waste in Montezuma County
Increasing timber sales from the San Juan National Forest is boosting the supply of available timber to the eight operational sawmills in Montezuma County, Colorado. The local mills are taking that timber and creating everything from wood paneling, plywood, excelsior, flooring, construction lumber, mine cribbing, to furniture.
Pending Homes Sales Index Increased 1.9% in March
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI), which is based on signed real estate contracts, not actual closings, for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops, increased 1.9% in March 2021 to a reading of 111.3.
Canadian Real GDP Grew 0.4% in February
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.4% in February following a 0.7% increase in January. This marks the tenth consecutive monthly increased and continued to offset the steepest decline on record in Canadian economic activity observed in March and April of 2020.
Index of Consumer Sentiment Increases 4% Month-Over-Month and 23% Year-Over-Year in April 2021
The University of Michigan (U of M) has posted the final results of their April 2021, Index of Consumer Sentiment. The Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to a value of 88.3, which is 4% higher month-over-month (MOM) and 23.% higher year-over-year (YOY). The current Economic Conditions increased to a value of 97.2, which is 4.5% higher MOM and 30.8% higher YOY.
Pending Homes Slide -10.6% in February 2021
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI), which is based on signed real estate contracts, not actual closings, for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops, declined -10.6% in February, to a reading of 110.3.