Despite the many challenges presented by the pandemic, wood products manufacturers are responding to the high demand by producing wood products at levels not seen since before the Great Recession.
The biggest U.S. homebuilders group urged the Biden administration to help increase lumber supply, saying record-high costs threaten to price potential home buyers out of the market and curb construction.
Flat rolled steel prices have started the new year strong, jumping by another $25-55 per ton and taking the benchmark hot rolled price above $1,000, within sight of the record high of $1,070 per ton seen in 2008.
The U.S. Department of Commerce today confirmed once again that Canadian softwood lumber is heavily subsidized and dumped into the U.S. market by issuing a combined anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duty "administrative review" rate of 8.81%.
As we reported last week, component manufacturers (CMs) across the country are witnessing “unprecedented increases, [80% since mid-April,] in softwood lumber costs in all markets amongst all grade and species combinations.”
The strike at Canada’s largest rail network may be over, but it will take days or weeks before the supply chain gets back on track, industry leaders say.
