QUEBEC Continued duction
QUEBEC Continued duction was steady and so some contacts had more inventory and some were lowering prices to generate sales. Cherry is not seeing great performance, as was the case in the past on all market fronts. This species does not seem to be part of the trend at this time in North America as many cabinet, millwork, furniture and wood component plants purchased small volumes of this species. These sectors have reduced their purchasing as they, too, have had reduced order files. The same is said Any Way You Cut It... ISK Protects It. Proven Mold Control...Powerful Sapstain Protection Trust ISK for Your Wood Solution. NeXgen ® End Coatings & Paint PQ-80 ® 1-800-238-2523 • 416 E. Brooks Rd. • Memphis, TN 38109 • www.iskbiocides.com NeXgen ® , Tuff-Brite ® and CosPaint ® are registered trademarks of ISK Americas Incorporated. PQ-8 ® and PQ-80 ® are registered trademarks of IBC Manufacturing Company. for shipments to overseas markets, noted contacts. As a result, supply is exceeding demand, and thus prices are affected. Hickory demand is based on a replacement basis for many buyers at this time. Therefore, prices are edging lower. Domestic and international markets have abundant supplies of this species. Sawmills are able to meet production demand for green Hickory. The Number 2A and 3A Red Oak and White Oak prices held steady in mid-October, ending the long weekly decline of prices for this species. Residential wood and truck trailer flooring manufacturers are still controlling purchases of these two species for these grades, but some were said to have stopped lowering prices or slowed the rate of decreases. Red Oak sales are hard to come by due to unfavorable trends in some important markets which is negatively affecting demand for Red Oak. The largest export market for Red Oak, China, does not have a strong economy at the moment, due in part to lockdowns caused by COVID and the potential for more. Buyers there are being very price conscious when placing orders. The other factor is the residential wood flooring manufacturers who are reducing their purchases of this species due to slow business, and also consumer interest is more for White Oak than Red Oak flooring. As well, truck trailer flooring companies have ample lumber for their needs. Red Oak also only has a small share of the cabinet, furniture, moulding and millwork markets. Contacts noted prices were softening as well for most green and kiln-dried items. As for White Oak demand, it has also waned in markets, and so supply and demand are not balanced, resulting in price pressures. Poplar demand, which was very popular until recently, is now one of the worst sellers, noted some contacts. Although domestic end users are still purchasing this species, many have reduced the amount purchased. Demand from Europe and Southeast Asia are reported to be down as well. According to Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Monthly Housing Outlook, Canada’s housing market’s downturn has longer to run. September data gave few indications the bottom is near. Both activity and prices continued to trend lower in the vast majority of local markets. Demand-supply conditions generally eased some more. And with further interest rate hikes likely on the way, RBC expects more of the same in the period ahead across the country. That said, activity in Ontario and British Columbia may be closer to stabilizing (though not so much for prices due to persisting affordability issues). September marked the seventh-straight monthly decline in home resales in Canada (down 3.9 percent). This puts the correction at -36 percent since February. While Prince Edward Island (-10.8 percent), Nova Scotia (-8.1 percent) and Manitoba (-6.6 percent) saw the largest drop in September, it’s been British Columbia (-47 percent), Ontario (-41 percent) and Alberta (-41 percent) that fell the most in the past seven months. Activity is now below pre-pandemic levels in all provinces except Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Home resales in Canada (at 419,900 units on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis) are the softest in a decade and likely to stay that way for a while longer. Property values similarly have declined in each of the last seven months nationwide since September and in most of Ontario (including Toronto), and the past six months in key BC markets (including Vancouver). Canada’s composite MLS Home Price Index fell 1.4 percent month/month (m/m) in September, and is now down 8.8 percent since the February peak. Leading the price correction have been smaller markets in Ontario that saw tremendous appreciation earlier during the pandemic: Cambridge (-20 percent), Kitchener-Waterloo (-18 percent), Brantford (-16 percent), London (-16 percent) and Hamilton (-16 percent). Chilliwack (-13 percent) and the Fraser Valley (-11 percent) in British Columbia also recorded outsized declines since the peak. Prices in larger markets are down significantly too—just not quite as much, adds RBC. Toronto’s MLS HPI has declined 9.2 percent (or 8,000) since February, including a 1 percent drop in September. The correction ranks as the second largest in the area since the inception of the index in 2000 and is rapidly closing in on the downturn that took place in 2017-2019 (-10.9 percent). Vancouver’s index is off 5.7 percent (or ,000) since March. RBC thinks it has much further to go given the intense unaffordability pressures currently in place. Their latest Housing Trends and Affordability report noted Vancouver buyers face the highest ever ownership costs anywhere in the country. Falling prices are a more recent phenomenon in Montreal where the MLS HPI crested in May. The correction is picking up steam, though. September saw the biggest drop (-1.7 percent m/m) so far, deepening the downturn to -4.7 percent (or -,600). RBC expects home resale activity to stay quiet in the Please turn to page 57 50 DECEMBER 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE www.RealAmericanHardwood.org www.RealAmericanHardwood.org DECEMBER 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 51 ISK BIOCIDES ISLAND.indd 7 5/18/17 3:14 PM
