APA Releases 2016 Structural Panel & Engineered Wood Yearbook

by | Aug 17, 2016 | News

The 2016 Structural Panel & Engineered Wood Yearbook has been released by APA – The Engineered Wood Association. The yearbook includes an analysis of the U.S., Canadian, and global economies, focusing on factors that impact demand for engineered wood products across several market segments as a basis for forecasting expected production of engineered wood products over the next five years. Besides the analysis and forecast, the yearbook also includes historical data on engineered wood production. Topics examined in the yearbook include:

• U.S., Canada, and World economies
• Residential construction in the U.S. and Canada, new and repair/remodel
• Nonresidential and industrial markets
• North American imports and exports
• Outlook and production statistics for structural panels (OSB and plywood), including historical data
• Engineered wood product demand and production (glulam, I-joists, and LVL)

Driven by healthy employment gains over the last three years, annual household growth in the U.S. is back to the 1.2 million level, with demand for new housing units also back to the 1.5–1.6 million unit level. Buoyed by low interest rates, which are expected to remain below 4 percent for most of 2016, construction of new single-family homes in the first quarter of 2016 was up almost 5 percent from the pace of the fourth quarter of 2015, the highest quarterly starts rate since the fourth quarter of 2007. While demand is high in the U.S., the primary concern for the rest of 2016 and for the next several years is the ability of the supply-side forces to respond to this improvement. Home builders report that factors including a lack of developed lots and the shortage of skilled construction labor have combined to constrain their ability to respond to the increased demand for housing. Eventually these constraints will lessen; housing starts are projected to return to approximately 1.5 million units by decade’s end, with a concurrent growth in engineered wood products output ranging from 19–28 percent during this period.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/almanac-market-data/apa-releases-2016-structural-panel-engineered-wood-yearbook?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news

Slow Demand, Rising Production Stalls Lumber And Panel Markets

by | Dec 21, 2015 | News

New WOOD MARKETS five-year forecast calls for continued volatility as North American and global lumber markets continue to recover and grow.

In WOOD MARKETS’ new five-year forecast, the short-term outlook is that North American and global economies, as well as softwood lumber and panel markets, are all forecast to improve, but at a much slower pace than has been expected. What has also short-circuited the prospects of stronger demand is a slowdown in China and Japan, impacting export markets. And the new wildcard that caused U.S. dollar prices to plunge in 2015, especially in softwood lumber, was the rapid currency devaluations of almost all major lumber producers as compared to the U.S. dollar. All of these factors have changed the WOOD MARKETS outlook to one that expects more lacklustre demand and corresponding price growth through 2018. After that, it starts to look very good.

These details and further analysis of commodity lumber and panels was released last week in the report, WOOD MARKETS 2016 – The Solid Wood Products Outlook: 2016 to 2020 by International WOOD MARKETS Group, Vancouver BC.

The supply-side dynamics feature eroding sustainable timber harvests in key provinces in Canada, resulting in dramatically lower lumber production than in the previous decade. Canada’s total lumber output will start to flatten out by 2018 with no further increases expected – just as U.S. and global demand are expected to gain momentum.

On the U.S. side, the U.S. West Coast region continues to watch log export prices in China and Japan, as many domestic log prices are correlated with export prices – this can quickly tighten the wood supply for sawmills and plywood mills as export prices rise. The U.S. South is forecast to be the only region where any significant lumber and panel production will occur, mainly due its ample, under-utilized timberland base of southern yellow pine. As lumber and panel demand increases, it is forecast that the current depressed log prices will start to move higher to feed incremental wood consumption of the expected additional panel and sawmill production.

From Wood Markets: https://www.woodmarkets.com/global-malaise-in-demand-coupled-with-rising-production-stalls-price-movement-in-north-america/