The North American wood products markets will enter the winter of 2026–27 facing what could be the strongest El Niño on record. Successfully navigating the months ahead will require market participants to track localized freight constraints, mill log inventories, and fragmented pricing across product composites.
Spotlights
The LVL industry is caught in the trade storm, but impacts will be limited
Most of LVL production is used in housing construction, either in the form of beams and headers or as flange material for I-joists. In 2025, North American demand was 56 million ft3 in the former segment, and 17 million in the latter.
Repair and Remodeling
Residential improvements account for roughly 36% of North American lumber and wood panel consumption, the same share as new residential construction. Yet the industry’s standard gauge of the sector cannot be trusted, so starting with FEA’s July Advisors, we are replacing it.
Section 122 Implications for Wood Products
On February 20, President Donald Trump announced a 10% temporary import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, shortly after the US Supreme Court struck down his tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Vietnam Industry Overview: Opportunities for Softwood
Against a backdrop of evolving global trade policies and growing demand for sustainable timber raw materials, Vietnam has established itself as a major player in the global wood furniture manufacturing industry, over the past two decades.
New Tariffs Will Have Massive Effects on US Economy; North American Wood Products Sector Will See Few Direct Effects
The trade restrictions announced on the Trump Administration’s “Liberation Day” mark a sea change in US trade policy. Here are a few of our initial thoughts.
Tariffs Would be a Drop in the Housing Affordability Bucket
The Trump Administration’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico starting on April 2nd will have many unhealthy effects on all three of North America’s economies. If enacted, these tariffs would increase costs and prices and lower total employment, productivity, and real wages across all three economies. However, they will not have a material effect on home affordability in the US.
A Home Design Catalog Takes Aim at a National Housing Shortage
In an effort to speed up much-needed homebuilding, Canada aims to bring back a tool that was last used in the post-war housing crisis.
Canada’s Caribou Conservation Goals and Woodland Management
One of the world’s biggest softwood lumber producing countries is in the midst of a major conservation effort that could place some Canadian fiber off limits to harvesters. Canada is taking steps to preserve boreal caribou habitat through provincial conservation plans.
US Demographics and House Inventories Fuel Home Size Trend
When the pandemic enabled many city dwellers to work remotely in 2020, many people bought new homes in more affordable and sprawling neighborhoods. By 2021, the average size of a newly constructed single-family house in the US expanded, bucking the downtrend in place since dropping from the record-high in 2015.