Lumber Prices Climb on Cutbacks at Canadian Sawmills

By Ryan Dezember
The Wall Street Journal
June 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Lumber prices continued their sharp climb in June after North America’s largest producer said it would close one mill in British Columbia and eliminate a shift at another. …In total, more than a billion board feet of production out of western Canada has been curtailed in recent weeks by mill owners. …Lumber futures climbed 4.4% to $409.40 per 1,000 board feet on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday, a 34% rise so far this month. …On Tuesday the U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts fell 0.9% in May from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.269 million. It was the latest gauge to signal weakness in the housing market. On Monday the National Association of Home Builders reported a decline in confidence in June among its members, who reported rising material and development costs that were countering mortgage rates that have fallen to near-historic lows. …These companies, along with U.S.-based competitors, have been rewarded by investors in their stock prices. [a WSJ subscription is required to access the full story]

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