by Web Editor | Jun 11, 2018 | News
Hardwood manufacturers are looking at positive growth continuing in 2018, but they need to expect rising prices for both hardwood lumber and panel products.
According to a report from Forecon Inc., “Lumber prices for our major (by value) species have all shown heavy demand, and most have seen a consistent upward trend in price throughout 2017 and certainly coming into 2018.” Forecon Inc. is one of the oldest established professional forestry consulting firms operating in the hardwood regions of the Eastern United States.
Forecon is reporting high demand for ash lumber in the face of concerns about the emerald ash borer damaging ash timber resources. Another hardwood on the rise is black cherry, which is seeing higher demand, especially from export markets, particularly from China and other Asian countries. But there is also elevated demand in the domestic market.
There is continuing strong demand for hard maple, especially green lumber (not kiln-dried), and reports are that there has been a specific increase in demand from cabinet manufacturers. This is another case where strong export demand, especially in Asia, continues to boost the price. Soft maple is not in as much demand as hard maple, with prices actually dropping a bit in the first half of this year.
One of the steadiest and strongest species of all continues to be red oak, which has set record export levels in volume and dollars this past year, and both international and domestic are staying strong in 2018. Forecon predicts sustained high prices for oak, keeping prices high and possibly climbing even higher into the summer months.
Read more on this from Woodworking Network at https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/higher-prices-seen-hardwood-trends.
by Web Editor | Dec 13, 2017 | News
The likelihood of strong profits from the wood products business, alongside higher prices and growth in paper packaging from increased e-commerce demand, will help to offset the secular declines in the printing and writing paper segment, says Moody’s Investors Service in its annual sector outlook published recently. As a result, the outlook for the global paper and forest products sector will remain stable in 2018.
“The stable outlook for paper and forest products globally next year is underpinned by an expected 2%-4% growth of our rated paper and forest products companies, as strength in the wood products and paper packaging subsectors offset decreased demand for commodity paper as the shift to digital-first alternatives continues,” says Ed Sustar, a Moody’s Senior Vice President and author of the report.
On a subsector basis, the positive outlook for wood products and timberland is buoyed by improving strong end-market demand for timber, lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and engineered wood products as US housing starts increase about 6%, or approximately 1.28 million units, in 2018.
Bolstered by the robust demand emanating from the US homebuilding market, average lumber prices are expected to remain strong, with increased production capacity aligning to support the demand, Moody’s says. Nevertheless, analysts caution that the tight lumber markets will allow countervailing anti-dumping duties assessed on Canadian lumber exported to the US to be passed on to consumers. The issuers most expected to benefit from a combination of higher lumber prices and little-to-no lumber tariffs include Potlatch Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser Company and Rayonier Inc.
From Moody’s Investors Service: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Wood-product-growth-supports-2018-stable-outlook-offsetting-commodity–PR_377021
