Forest2Market Monthly News
9 Predictions for Global Wood Consuming Industries (& the NBA) in 2017

By Pete Stewart
The last year was one of many surprises on any number of levels. What's in store for the coming year? Read my predictions for global wood consuming industries (and the NBA) in 2017.
Spotlight on Northeast and Appalachian Hardwood Log and Lumber Exports

By Hannah Jefferies
In a previous analysis, we analyzed trends in hardwood and conifer log and lumber exports to China versus other countries. This post continues that analysis by focusing on hardwood logs and lumber exported from the Northeast US and, in particular, the four important Appalachian hardwood states of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Southern Yellow Pine Lumber: Quarterly Prices and Yearly Comparisons

By John Greene
The composite southern yellow pine lumber price inched down during week 50 of 2016 to the $381/mbf mark. As we approach the end of 2016 (and the formal slowdown in new construction) prices have remained very steady since the end of August. Week 50’s price is 17 percent above its January 2016 starting point of $326/mbf, and 18 percent above its 2015 week 50 price of $323/mbf.

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Housing Starts Take a November Nose Dive

By John Greene
On the heels of October’s improbable 25 percent surge, new residential construction in the US experienced a steep drop in the month of November. Economists had forecasted that housing starts would slip to a 1.23 million-unit rate last month coming off October’s previously-reported 1.32 million pace. Despite soaring stock prices, recently-released data shows weak retail sales and industrial production in November, and the plunge in groundbreaking activity could result in fourth-quarter GDP forecasts being trimmed yet again. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting GDP rising at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in 4Q2016 after increasing at a brisk 3.2 percent rate in 3Q.


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Chart of the Month: Canadian Lumber Imports

By Daniel Stuber
Despite the sunsetting of the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), Canadian lumber imports to the US have risen by over 82 percent since the Great Recession and the subsequent bottoming of the housing market in 2009. Interestingly, even though total lumber imports from Canada are 30 percent lower than they were at their peak in 2005, lumber from Canada continues to make up a significantly higher percentage of new, single-family housing units.

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Forest Industry Performance: November 2016

By Joe Clark
Total industrial production (IP) rose by just under 0.1 percent in October (-0.8 percent YoY, the 14th consecutive month of YoY declines) after decreasing 0.2 percent in September; September IP had originally been estimated at +0.1 percent MoM. Manufacturing output met expectations when increasing by 0.3 percent. As an indication that consumers have yet to recover from the Great Recession, current IP in consumer goods is 35 percent below the level predicted by a trend line fitted to the period between the mid-1980s and the February 2007 peak.

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Two Sides Illustrates Health of American Forests with Data

By John Greene
The global forest community and forest products industry are beginning to change the anti-forestry narrative that has so dominated the news cycles for decades. This is progress that is long overdue. Rather than approaching the educational and outreach efforts with a haggard reliance on emotionally-driven images (that are but a snapshot in time and do not reflect forest life cycles), the forest industry has tangible, positive data on its side. Proof always wins in the end, and the overall health and sustainability of America’s forests is best represented in the fact-based conversation that is occurring now.

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