Softwood Forest Products Buyer - July/August 2019

QUEBEC/ONTARIO TRENDS -

QUEBEC/ONTARIO TRENDS - Continued from page 53 are good to go in May. It was a bit slower starting this year because of all the rain. The weather curtailed some of that early season business.” Pine prices have tended to remain firm. “No concessions have been made on prices,” according to the Ontario producer. One Quebec wholesaler remarked that “there are some holes in inventories as well, so you even might see some price increases too. This might not be so much at the mill level, but maybe at the distribution level.” An Ontario-based wholesaler suggested, “The optimism is there, and chances are it should be pretty steady throughout the summer. Of course, we will have to see the impact of the weather, another stinking hot summer will have a slowing impact on the market.” Almost everyone mentions that the housing market being soft has meant some construction has been curtailed. “It cooled things down quite a bit when they imposed that extra first mortgage insurance requirement,” said one source. Mortgage rules might also be a factor there too, with the minimum down payment in Canada for a home being 5 percent. A requirement on all mortgages for homes in Canada is mortgage default insurance, commonly known as CMHC insurance. This protects the lender in the event the borrower defaults on the mortgage. It is required on all mortgages with down payments of less than 20 percent, which are known as high ratio mortgages. If you have a 20 percent down payment, then you don’t need this insurance. One industry insider noted, “Who has got 15-20 percent for a down payment today? Not too many. It is hard on young families to get into the housing market, and it is now simply normal for younger folks to move back into their parents’ basements after school.” The latest from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) indicates the trend in housing starts was 201,983 units in May 2019, compared to 205,717 units in April 2019. This trend measure is a sixmonth moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts. This national trend in housing starts decreased in May as a result of continuing decline in the trend for single starts as well as a decline in the trend of multi-unit starts that follows gains in this segment in recent months in urban areas. This leaves multi-unit starts closer to its 10-year average. The April level for multi- unit starts was considered unusually elevated. n TRADE TALK AN UPDATE COVERING THE LASTEST NEWS IN THE SOFTWOOD INDUSTRY Roseburg Welcomes New Director of Supply Chain and Logistics Springfield, OR–Roseburg recently announced that Rick Whitmore has joined the company as director of supply chain and logistics. Whitmore began serving in early April as the interim leader of these critical functions for the company. Rick Whitmore Over the past several years, Whitmore has worked with Roseburg as the managing partner for 3Strand.Solutions, a supply chain, transportation and logistics consulting group. He brings industry knowledge, logistics expertise and supply chain optimization experience to the role. Before starting 3Strand.Solutions, Whitmore worked in various leadership roles for a number of transportation companies, including TransWorks/Norfolk Southern, Best Transport and BNSF Railway. In these roles, he demonstrated his ability to create strong teams and improve organizational health. Whitmore has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management Continued on page 55 Page 54 Softwood Forest Products Buyer n July/August 2019

TRADE TALK- Continued from page 54 from Auburn University and an MBA from Texas Christian University. Roseburg Forest Products, founded in 1936, is a privately-owned company and one of North America’s leading producers of particle- burg also manufactures Softwood and hardwood plywood, lumber, LVL and I-joists. The company owns and sustainably manages more than 600,000 acres of timberland in Oregon, North Carolina and Virginia, as well as an export wood chip terminal facility in Coos Bay, OR. Rose- Rim. To learn more about the company, visit www.roseburg.com. Hancock Lumber Opens New –Hancock Lumber Co. recently road to a new site located right across from the company’s sawmill operations and lumberyard. The company’s campus is now wholly-located in Hancock Lumber’s working forest, which is known as Jugtown. Kevin Hancock Kevin Hancock, president of Hancock Lumber, noted, “First the sawmill moved over to Route 11 from its previous location on Edes Falls Road, and then the retail store moved up the street–eventually to Bridgton. That left only the rejoining the modern business of manufacturing, retailing and logistics. Casco is going to have one Hancock Lumber campus once again.” Casco, ME, 04015. Established in 1848, Hancock Lumber is a 6th generation, familyowned business operating a timberland company, a sawmill division and a network of retail lumberyards and home design showrooms across Maine and New Hampshire. Led by their over 460 employees, Hancock The company is also a past recipient of the Maine Family Business of the Year Award, the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence, and the MITC Exporter of the Year award. To learn more, visit www.hancocklumber.com. Snavely Forest Products Expands With New Houston Distribution Center Pittsburgh, PA–Snavely Forest Products, a leading wholesale distributor of building products, headquartered here, has opened a new division in Houston, TX. This location will distribute a full complement of products including LP SmartSide siding and trim, LP SmartStart EWP, TYPAR, Versatex Trimboards, composite decking, EDCO Prod- Forest Products since they were acquired by Weekes Forest Products in February of 2018. Clark Spitzer, Snavley’s COO said, “The Houston facility will provide us access to one of the top housing markets in the country as well as allow us to better service surrounding markets, including San Antonio and Austin. We are excited to take this very important step in our strategic expansion plan.” Snavely currently operates distribution centers in Pittsburgh, PA; Westminster, MD; Liberty, NC; Denver, CO; and Dallas, TX. Among the products stocked by these facilities are lumber and panels, doors, decking, railing, engineered wood products and exterior cladding. More information can be found at www.snavelyforest.com. STRONGER TOGETHER Softwood Forest Products Buyer July/August 2019 Page 55