Wood Markets News


Mortgage Applications Decrease -2.5% in the Week Ending March 19, 2021

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending March 19, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -2.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -2% compared with the previous week.

The U.S. Forest Service Proposes Sweeping Plan to Remove Trees Burned and Killed Along Roads in Selected Oregon Wildfire Areas

A proposed sweeping plan of “treatment” to remove trees burned and killed along roads within the scars of Beachie Creek, Lionshead, and Holiday Farm fire has been proposed by the U.S. Forest Service. There are roughly 550 miles of road within the trio of fires and about 390 are proposed for “treatment” — meaning the cutting dead trees that might fall onto the road in the future.

Lack of Available U.S. Forest Service Timber for Sale in the Black Hills Forces Neiman Enterprises to Close Hill City South Dakota Sawmill

Neiman Enterprises has announced that after 53 years of continuous operation, the company has decided to shutter its Hill City, South Dakota sawmill. In discussing the closure, Jim D. Neiman, President of Neiman Enterprises said, the mill closure is outside of the company’s control and comes as the result of a reduction in the amount of timber being sold by the U.S. Forest Service in the Black Hills.

Washington State Looks to Forest Lands for More than Just Logging

Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently held a timber auction to sell off part of a 180-acre patch of state forestland where some of the state’s largest Douglas firs have stood through more than a hundred years of logging. The sale netted the state $4.2 million, and the trees were headed for a plywood mill.

Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railroad Agree to Merge – Creating North America’s First Railroad Network to Connect Canada, the U.S. and Mexico

The Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) and the Kansas City Southern (KCS) announced on Sunday, March 21, 2021 that they have entered into a merger agreement under which CP has agreed to acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction representing an enterprise value of approximately USD $29 billion, which includes the assumption of $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt.