Wildfires May Reheat Lumber Prices

Lumber rates had been cooling in latest weeks. Even so, lumber producers alert price hikes very likely are on the horizon if the Western wildfires aren’t contained.

NEW YORK – Dozens of raging wildfires in the West are threatening to send out lumber rates soaring once again.

Lumber rates had been cooling in latest weeks, giving builders – and, finally, new-house purchasers – hope for far more affordability. Remodeling expenditures also had been set to advantage. But the relief might be limited-lived, as lumber producers are warning price hikes are on the horizon if the Western wildfires aren’t contained.

Canfor Corp., one particular of the biggest lumber producers in North America, claimed this week that the business is scaling again output at its mills, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“The wildfires burning in western Canada are appreciably impacting the source chain and our ability to transport item to sector,” claimed Stephen Mackie, an executive vice president at Canfor. Other providers also are predicting a significant-scale pullback in lumber creation for the reason that of wildfires burning all alongside the West Coast.

Inventory traders bid up lumber futures this week by the every day utmost quantity trade principles let, the Journal reviews.

Earlier this yr, amid crushing consumer demand from customers, lumber rates achieved a document large in May possibly. But since then, they have fallen just about 70%. The median price of a new house in May possibly was up eighteen% from a yr before, in accordance to Census Bureau facts. At the time, large lumber expenditures had been blamed for soaring new-construction expenditures.

Resource: “Western Wildfires Elevate Lumber Prices,” The Wall Street Journal (July 22, 2021) [Log-in necessary.]  

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