Wood Markets News


Capesize Vessels Pressed into Service to Transport Logs and Save Shippers Money

Lumber traders in an attempt to keep their freight cost under control have started using Capesize vessels. Capesize vessels are the largest class of bulk ships and typically carry cargo such as iron ore, coal, and grain. The name Capesize comes from the fact that they are so large that they cannot pass through the Panama Canal and thus have to sail around the Cape of Good hope to sail between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

Weyerhaeuser Devotes All Logging Resources to Wildfire Salvage Operations in Oregon

Weyerhaeuser continues to concentrate all of its logging resources into fire salvage. As an example, the Weyerhaeuser Santiam Lumber Mill is busily producing lumber from logs salvaged from the wildfires last summer — the Holiday Farm Fire that burned along the McKenzie River and into the Mohawk and upper Calapooia areas, and the Santiam Canyon fires, which damaged timber in the Snow Peak area.

Northern Ontario Lumber Producers Struggle to Keep Up with Surging Demand

Northern Ontario lumber producers are struggling to keep up with surging demand as lumber prices in North America are reaching all-time highs. After a difficult year in 2020 for sawmill operations, leading some producers in Northern Ontario to ask for government assistance to remain in operations, the industry experienced a real turn around thanks to rising prices.

Mortgage Applications Decrease -2.2% in the Week Ending March 12, 2021

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending March 12, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -2.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -2% compared with the previous week.

Housing Starts and Permits Down but Housing Completions were Up in February 2021

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that privately‐owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,421,000. This is -10.3% below the revised January estimate of 1,584,000 and is -9.3% below the February 2020 rate. Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 1,040,000; and this is -8.5% below the revised January figure.