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A 60 year walk down forestry's memory lane. Click to find out more!
The Latest Key Prices from Madison's Canadian Lumber ReporterNEWS THIS WEEKTruck Logger AGM ; 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement Extended ; Sawmill Fires ; Japan Housing Starts ; US Home Sales, Mortgage Applications ; BC Forest Conversation ; Link to Lumber Price GraphsLink to Lumber News ArchivesLink to Madison's Press ReleasesUpdated on February 02, 2012 QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It’s called a “Hoi Nin” prayer in the Cantonese dialect: many kick off the second day of the Chinese New Year with this invocation, which is said to bless one with prosperity and good luck in their business of choice. Those in the KD fir exchange showed a similar optimism, though tempered with the sober realization of current, less-than-ideal market conditions. Overall, KD fir was a little quieter this week. One seller indicated that, on a delivered basis, kiln-dried fir products were at a discount to green fir. The likely cause of this reversal is that buyers tend to have trouble unloading such wet and heavy green boards. Customers are usually willing to wait until the drier months, when green wood is less cumbersome to handle. Those more clement seasons are still a while away. Sellers expect KD fir to stay at a tight level of production for the time being, with order files that are correspondingly short. "
All prices are in U.S. dollars per 1000 board feet unless otherwise noted. |
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As expected, the United States and Canada have agreed to extend the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement for a period of two years. The SLA will now remain in effect through October 2015.
Massive fires destroyed two Canadian sawmills this week. Portland, OR’s, Hampton Affiliates’ Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake, BC, was completely destroyed in a violent explosion that killed two workers and injured 19 others.
Eacom Timber’s McChesney lumber mill in Timmins, ON, was burned after a stubborn fire on the roof could not be effectively put out by fire fighters due to the close proximity of a lake on the side of the mill that was burning. There were no reports of injuries and no fatalities at this mill.
Eacom has already pledged to rebuild the Timmins mill, while Hampton is considering its options in view of the diminishing timber supply in the wake of the mountain pine beetle infestation surrounding Burns Lake.
These latest events serve to only further illustrate the importance of safety and a need for the highest vigilance on issues with sawmill environments that might cause damage or injury.
November housing starts in Japan were at 72,635 new units, a 0.3 per cent drop from one year ago, according to the Japan Lumber Reports.
Seasonally adjusted starts were 845,000 units, a 9.2 per cent increase over October, and the first time in three months the figure has passed 800,000.
Housing Starts, Japan
Japan’s new housing units built for sale and condominiums increased, but units built for owners and rental units declined for the third straight month, says the Japan Lumber Reports.
Owners units were there at the third lowest level and rental units were at the second lowest in record for November.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that sales of new homes in the US unexpectedly fell in December, putting the brakes on three months of increases. New home sales fell 2.2 per cent from the prior month to a rate of 307,000 annualized. The total in 2010 was 323,000, the lowest amount since record keeping began in 1963.
Meanwhile, The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales, which tracks sales of previously owned homes based on contract signings, fell a seasonally adjusted 3.5 per cent in December from the previous month. The decline partly reflects a strong November, when sales hit a 19-month high.
December existing sales rose 5.6 per cent from a year ago.
US Real Estate
Still, sales of new homes rose in the final quarter of 2011, supporting other signs of a slow turnaround that began at the end of the year.
Though new-home sales represent less than 10 per cent of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The median sales price for new homes dropped in December to US$210,300., and there was a 6.1-month supply of homes at the current rate of sales. Builders continued to slash prices to stay competitive in the depressed market.
The National Association of Realtors affordability index was at 194.5 in November, second only to the prior month’s level as the highest on record. A reading of 100 means a household earning the median income can afford a median-priced home at current lending rates.
Sales of homes in foreclosure comprised 20 per cent of all US residential sales during the third quarter, according to a RealtyTrac release Thursday.
That share is a significant decline from the same period in 2010, when foreclosed homes made up 30 per cent of residential sales, but it’s still a far cry from levels seen during healthier housing markets when foreclosures comprised less than 5 per cent of sales. In total, 221,536 distressed properties were purchased during the quarter, down 11 per cent from the previous quarter and 5 per cent lower than the same quarter a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.
The Healthy Forests-Healthy Communities: A conversation on BC forests is a non-partisan, volunteer supported initiative to provide an opportunity for experts, communities and concerned citizens to inform decision-makers of their views and concerns regarding management of BC forests.
The results from expert papers on current and future forest management, and of Community Dialogue Sessions identifying community issues and suggested actions have just been released.
The report summarizing the results, conclusions and recommendations generated from input of 37 experts on aspects of future of BC forests and the views communities provided through 20 Community Dialogue Sessions has been posted on the HFHC website http://bcforestconversation.com
The report concluded:
o More influence on local forest lands decisions o More information on the status of local forest lands o More diverse economic development opportunities from forest lands
o More sustainable integrated resource management
o Better monitoring and assessment of forest lands management o A high level of stewardship on private forest lands
The report recommends that political parties engage in dialogue with communities and concerned citizens, and that government review legislation and adopt the requirement for a forest lands vision to guide policy .
