Spotlights

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.

Canada’s Record Wildfires had Limited Impact on Lumber Supply

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was vast and voracious. The amount of forested acres that burned this year was by far the largest ever recorded at 45.7 million acres. That represents a total land mass that is bigger than the state of Missouri that went up in smoke this year alone.

U.S. Lumber Imports from Europe Hold Strong

US imports of lumber from Europe have risen this year so far, defying many analysts’ expectations for overseas supplies to decrease due to falling demand, weaker prices and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Frame of Reference for Revamped Lumber Futures

Futures markets involve speculation about the future, spot markets deal with the present. They often differ from each other, but when the future finally arrives and the contracts near expiration, futures must converge with spot to function as a practical hedging tool. The legacy contract has done that.

Wildfires Rage in Canada

Canada’s wildfire season roared through spring and has already burned the largest amount of land ever recorded in a year. By late-June—with several months of wildfire season left to go—the burned area exceeded the full-year record made in 1995, according to Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. (CIFFC) data. Canada’s typical wildfire season peaks in July and fizzles out by October.

FEA Improves Accuracy of European Import Data

Forest Economic Advisors has recalculated US lumber import data from Europe after discovering an industry-wide miscalculation. The difference is large—likely over 1 billion board feet (BBF) in 2022—and explains a discrepancy between end-use market activity and US consumption that had left us scratching our heads for some time now.

Overview of Japan

Compilation: Wood Markets Monthly articles by Robert Fouquet, FEA Partner and expert on new wood product technologies