Business Trends North America

March and April were eventful months dominated by the federal election on April 28, an unpredictable race between the Liberal and Conservative parties, at the time of this writing. Meanwhile, ongoing tariff conflicts between Canada and the U.S. created uncertainty, affecting businesses across the hardwood industry as well as most businesses in other sectors. Tariff […]

The ongoing tariff war between the U.S. and Canada, and the U.S. and other countries, have affected sales of most hardwood species of grades and thicknesses. Exports to the U.S. have dropped, while shipments to China have increased slightly for some in the export business of Cherry, Red and White Oak, Walnut, Poplar and Ash. […]

Sales Tick Up Throughout The Lake States Region Sources that were contacted in the Lake States region differed a bit as to how their sales were faring at the time of this writing. One source noted that his market is doing well and is up from six months ago. Another source mentioned that while he […]

Northeastern Lumber Representatives Report A Rise In Market Performance And Tariff Preparations Issues with a variety of inclement weather has slowed down operations in the Northeast; however, lumber representatives remain positive due to the increase in customer foot traffic. Causes listed for this increase include the end of the election, an increase in demand for […]

Market Improvements, Uncertainty And The Rise Of Red Oak And Poplar Interest in Red Oak and Poplar have increased along with market demand and uncertainty about the tariffs, while White Oak inquiries have dropped, according to Southeastern lumber sources. “Really good because I think people see what’s coming down the pike regarding availability or product,” […]

Optimism Holds Strong Throughout West Coast As Sales Remain Steady Throughout the West Coast region, sources that were contacted at press time agreed that while their markets were overall on the slower side, it was due in part to the time of year. A source in Washington stated that while his sales were lackluster, he […]

Hard and Soft Maple Remain Popular in Ontario As Prices Continue To Rise With full winter weather upon us at press time, logging conditions were a challenge for certain areas, thus production statistics are down in Ontario and in the Appalachian region. However, other areas reported increased sawmill production. Thus, end users were purchasing more […]

Quebec’s Hardwood Market Proves To Be Steady, Government Funds Housing Starts The winter snowstorms that hit Ontario and Quebec at press time caused delays in logging, thus reducing supplies on markets. With improved weather conditions, logging operations were able to go in the woods for some much-needed supplies of various species for sawmills and on […]