Wood Markets News


Weekly Jobless Claims Increase in the Week Ending March 13, 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 770,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday March 13, 2021 — an increase of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 746,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index® Increases in February

The Conference Board, which was founded in 1916 as a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank, released today (3-18-22) their February 2021, Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. According to the release, the LEI which is based on ten separate components increased 0.2% in February, following a 0.5% increase in January and a 0.4% increase in December.

Industry Veteran Helps to Turn Potential into a Reality at Northern Ontario Sawmill

Despite having ‘retired’ in 2005, Frank Dottori, the founder of Tembec Inc., continues to pursue opportunities in the forest products industry. His most recent as the CEO of White River Forest Products (WRFP) located in White River Ontario and WRC Timber — the mills parent company. The WRFP mill was shut down for seven years before WRC Timber bought the mill in 2013.

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.