In 2010 and 2011, attendance at the NAWLA Vancouver Regional Meeting averaged 150. In 2012, there were 170 registered attendees. April 2nd marked the third consecutive year that attendance has blown past 200 in a packed Grand Ballroom at The Vancouver Club. During the evening networking session, many attendees remarked how much they enjoyed the diverse themes offered up by our professional presenters at the afternoon meeting: Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Peter Woodbridge and Kim Marshall (Woodbridge Associates), and Gavin Dew (Trans Mountain Expansion Project).

Of note, forest industry and wood product consultants Peter Woodbridge and Kim Marshall left attendees buzzing about their “Super-Saturated” chemistry analogy to describe present market conditions. According to Woodbridge Associates, there are seven factors fueling today’s over-supply of softwood lumber:

1. China Lumber Supply, diverted to the U.S. market
2. China/Asia Log Supply, diverted (in part) to the U.S. market
3. Currency-Fueled SPF lumber (C$), muting the intended impacts of Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) supply management
4. Currency-Fueled Euro Lumber (Eu) diverted from the MENA market
5. Currency-Fueled Russian Logs/Lumber (RUB), selling into Asia/Europe
6. Low Tax-Rated Canadian public timber, partially offsetting rapidly rising structural wood costs in many parts of Canada
7. ‘Coming of Age’ of U.S. South Southern Yellow Pine industry, as dominant supply region and price setter. 87% of 2014 production growth = U.S. Mills.

Woodbridge suggested “Super-Saturated Supply” will continue to dominate lumber markets and ‘hold-down’ lumber prices this year. And while too early to declare a trend in critical Texas, they cited Q1 warning signals in lumber demand, ripple effects from the oil price collapse. Their in-depth analysis charting multi-family vs single family home building, particularly in the South, was eye-catching.

At the same time, Woodbridge cautioned that Super-Saturated Supply is temporary, confirming predicted lumber super cycle fundamentals are “alive and well”; super cycle timing has simply been “pushed forward”. Also of note, in Woodbridge’s view, the SLA will be renewed (October 2015), but with a ‘kicker’ in the form of a ‘re-calibration’ which will be priced into Canadian SPF from 2016 onwards.