Forest2Market Monthly News



December Poll


What wood-based products or innovations are you most excited about for 2018?

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CLT/Mass Timber
Specialty Fibers
Biobased Products (Biochemicals, Bioenergy, Biofuels)
Results From November's Poll


If you are a timberland owner, what is your primary motivation in maintaining your land?
Douglas Fir Log Prices Reach Record Highs in Pacific Northwest

By Joel Swanton
Prices for Douglas fir logs in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) have spiked to their highest levels since Forest2Market has been reporting them via our Delivered Wood Raw Material Price Benchmark for Northwest US and Southwest Canada. Prices are at levels not seen for over twenty years, when the Spotted Owl crisis drastically reduced PNW federal harvests by 90 percent.

Accurate Stumpage Prices Are Crucial for Reliable Timber Valuations

By Tom Hittle
Wisconsin has about 3 million acres of county and state managed forestland that, on average, sells roughly 2.2 million tons of stumpage annually. Despite this large acreage of actively-managed public lands, private lands still account for about two-thirds of the total fiber harvested. Because of the availability of public stumpage data—and the difficulties inherent in compiling private stumpage—the “stumpage market” has a tendency to be defined by timber sold by the public agencies.


Wood Chips and Conveyor
Biomass Plants in the Northeast Scramble to Change Business Model

By Eric Kingsley
In the Northeast, biomass electricity plants are staring at some tough economics. For many standalone wood-fired electricity plants, the cost of fuel (wood chips) and operations exceed what they get paid for the electricity they generate. With natural gas (and thus wholesale electricity) prices expected to remain low—and state-level support for biomass fading—biomass plants are working hard to figure out how to continue operating.

Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices Remain High in November

By John Greene
Southern yellow pine lumber prices remain high amid October’s hot housing starts numbers. However, the market continues to be affected by the ongoing softwood lumber dispute; Canada is now taking its case to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which will start a potentially lengthy contest before the international commercial body. Canada is also fighting the case through NAFTA’s dispute-resolution system.

Brazil's Changing Role in the Global Pulp Market

By Marcelo Schmid
The Brazilian pulp market has been very active in 2017. At the beginning of 2Q2017, Fibria—the world leader in the production of eucalyptus pulp—began operating its new production line in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, which increased capacity from 1.3 million to 3.25 million tons of pulp per year. This volume increase has made the Três Lagoas facility the largest pulp mill in the world.

Real Christmas Trees May be Hot Commodities this Holiday Season

By John Greene
Per a recent article published by USA Today, it may be more difficult to find a real Christmas tree this year. According to NCTA, the shortage could drive prices of real trees up 5-10 percent on average—and we owe this price jump, in large part, to the Great Recession of 2008.

US Forest Industry Performance: October 2017

By Joe Clark
In the wake of revisions (July: -0.5 PP, to -0.1 percent; August: +0.2 PP, to -0.7 percent), total industrial production (IP) rose 0.3 percent in September (+1.6 percent YoY); the main driver behind September’s MoM increase was a +1.5 percent jump in utilities that only partially offset August’s 4.9 percent tumble. For broader perspectives, total IP fell at an annualized rate of 1.5 percent during 3Q; it also remains 1.9 percent below its November 2014 peak.

US Housing Starts Surge in October; Home Prices Remain High

By John Greene
Despite the lingering effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in some areas—particularly in hardest-hit Puerto Rico—US homebuilding surged to a one-year high in October as communities throughout the US South began replacing houses damaged during the storms. Indeed, the region “carried” the metric through October; housing starts in the US South soared over 17 percent to 621,000 units, with single-family construction jumping more than 16 percent to its highest level since 2007.