The North American lumber market has been the starting point for several conversations in the industry over the years. Mr Amir Rashad, the CEO of Timber Exchange, took it upon himself to bring this subject up for discussion on a global platform. To do so, he had a panel discussion with one of the finest analysts of the lumber market, Keta Kosman, the owner of Madison’s Lumber Reporter on a special webinar hosted on 30th March 2022.
Taking place over a video conference that had been attended by industry experts and enthusiasts all over the world, this webinar gave an analysis of the dynamics, performance & outlook of the North American Lumber market and covered a variety of aspects across the guest's expertise.
Amir took the lead by introducing the panellist, and her work before moving forward with the 1-hour long session went on to touch upon pointers such as:
- Why is the North American lumber market so volatile?
- What is the supply situation?
- What is the demand situation?
- Prices today and the recent performance
- Housing activity
- External factors affecting the market (policy, logistics, legal, weather)
- European lumber in the US market
- The emergence of SYP, a suitable alternative?
- Forecast for the near future
Keta Kosman began the webinar by informing the audience about the current lumber prices in North America and how it has been fluctuating over the past few years (post-pandemic) due to droughts and flooding, among other reasons. She also shared how the production has been dropping because of the Mountain Pine Beetle infested timber loss and how the effects of that will continue to be felt for several decades to come.
Upon asking about the role of European and Canadian lumber in the US and if it will dominate or not, Keta goes on to mention that “Canadian lumber usually dominates the market. While it used to be around 85% where 65% of the Canadian lumber went to the US and 50% of that used to be manufactured in British Columbia. Looking at it the other way, around 35% of all wood in the US is made in Canada. The export from Europe has always been quite nominal and tends to stay around the Eastern seaboard, in the East of the US.”
Keta Kosman also added that “There is just not enough material to serve ongoing high-demand then still expected 15 years worth of first-time home buyers. We have the demographic of the millennials, quite at the beginning of the age where people normally go about to buy a home & the US has been underbuilt for the past 10 years.”
She also adds that “The high price of lumber, as people are remarking, if over the past 10 years, lumber prices had gone up 10-15% per year, it would not be remarkable, how high they are now, compared to 2007.”
On another note, she mentions, “The retailers don't set the price of lumber. The large US home builders set the price. They order in volume from the sawmills or the wholesalers and whatever price level is negotiated there, that’s what the mills quote to the retailers, to the small contractors, to the reloads and all such secondary suppliers.”
Talking about the disruptions in the trade, lack of communication, and how that affects the price of lumber, Keta Kosman mentions, “North America has a problem with supply chains and transportations where railcars are not arriving and they can't get trucks and so these delivery delays are what has been keeping the price up.”
She states that, “The futures, March contract went way up and then came back down is right now waffling around at $1000. Cash was flat. The sawmills still have a good amount of weeks of production booked which gives them the opportunity to say we're not going to take your counteroffer.”
Amongst other conversations about the price fluctuations in the market based on graphs by Madison’s Lumber Reporter, the webinar ended with a Q/A session from the audience where the panellist was asked about the rising questions regarding the North American lumber market and its past, present, and future. Before wrapping up the webinar, Amir Rashad shared how Timber Exchange benefits the global timber market through its three major features – Smart supply chain tools, B2B Marketplace, and the Market Data Hub, along with the latest offering of the digital ecosystem - Services.
You can check out the recorded session of the whole webinar by clicking on & registering here.