Housing Upturn Lifts Sawmill Production, Wood Prices

With U.S. housing starts at their investors interested in the sector once again, North American sawmills are seeing more business, according to Forest Business Network.

August sawmill production in the U.S. and Canada rose 7.3 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, according to figures released by Wood Resources Quarterly. Production has risen the most in the U.S. Northwest and Quebec, two regions where production is up 30 percent over August 2011. "It is also interesting to note that for the first time in two years, sawmills in the Western U.S. produced as much lumber as the mills in the U.S. South in August. Typically production levels are higher in the U.S. South than in the West," Forest Business Network wrote.

More demand is driving prices upward, as well. Prices for Southern pine are up 48 percent year-over-year, while Western hemlock prices are up 32 percent over the same period, according to market researcher Random Lengths.