The news reportedly came as a shock to the town of Houston, whose population is just over 3,000. “There was no warning at all,” said Houston Mayor Bill Holmberg. “Everybody’s aware of the pine beetle and reduction in timber that was going to come because of that. But I don’t think anyone expected it quite this fast, even though we knew sooner or later mills were going to have to close because there just isn’t the volume of wood.” The full story from Global News BC is just one of a flurry of reports popping up online this evening concerning the sudden announcement that two sawmills among ‘the majors’ – West Fraser in Houston and Canfor in Quesnel – will close. The impact of the closures in these rural communities will be felt most of all by 434 employees and their families. “Rural economies are rapidly changing” we’re told.

Game Changer?
Short term timber supply constraints in the Interior are clearly intensifying. Salvage logging of MPB wood is in decline. In the years following the 2008 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, large volumes of surplus production sold offshore provided underlying support for domestic prices. It seems evident this September and October however, that stronger demand for lumber across North America, bolstered by a resurgent U.S. housing market, is the leading factor behind unseasonably high prices.

Lookin’ good! NAWLA Traders Market, Las Vegas 10-24

“Sainas in Vegas” 10-25