Demand fears & supply chain chaos details below
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Lumber futures fell by the exchange limit for a seventh straight session on the CME, the longest slump since July, as demand collapses in an environment of soaring costs and transport bottlenecks.
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March lumber (LB1:COM) fell to $1,053.70 per 1,000 board ft., sinking 18% during the period and continuing the volatile pattern for wood prices since COVID-19 began that saw record highs amid a building boom followed by plunging prices as sawmills ramped up production and high prices hurt demand.
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Flooding in British Columbia disrupted supplies and shipments in late 2021, and now vaccine mandates that apply to truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border are adding to transportation woes, Bloomberg reports.
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Labor shortages and transport problems have made it harder to get building supplies, causing builders to delay or cancel projects, David Logan, director of tax and trade policy analysis for the National Association of Home Builders tells Bloomberg.
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“The starter home market has seemingly vanished,” Logan says. “We’ve seen affordable housing projects canceled.”
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Louisiana-Pacific “has focused on growing shareholder value under CEO Brad Southern’s tenure,” Mike Thomas writes in a bullish analysis posted recently on Seeking Alpha.