WRQ Signalled Highly Resilient U.S. Lumber Markets

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. lumber markets continued to remain highly strong during the winter and spring, said the latest Wood Resources Quarterly (WRQ) report.

In Jan-Apr ’21, the lumber imports into the country surged higher by 15%. The dominant supplier was Canada, though it witnessed significant loss in market share. The market share of overseas suppliers increased to touch 15% in early-2021, almost double the average levels prior to that. Shipments from Germany, Austria and Romania recorded marked improvement, said WRQ.

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Global Log Demand Surged Significantly in H2 2020

The lumber production in the U.S. increased marginally by 1.3% during the initial quarter of the year. Wet weather conditions, interruptions in log flows to mills as well as constrained labor throughout the entire supply chain restricted sawmill production during this period. Meantime, the Canadian lumber production was up by 3% year-on-year. Also, the Canadian lumber export prices to the U.S. witnessed threefold surge in April this year, compared with April 2020.

The lumber prices in the U.S. hit levels never seen before in May 2021, with average prices at almost three times higher than the same month a year before.