Business, Contracting, Markets 39 June 2024 Remodeling Outlook Good The first quarter 2024 Remodeling Market Index (RMI) slipped down one point from the prior quarter, to a score of 66, as reported by National Assoc. of Home Builders/Westlake Royal (NAHB). “An RMI at 66 is consistent with NAHB’s forecast for stable remodeling spending in 2024,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Rising costs for construction labor and building materials continue to be the major headwinds to faster growth.” A leading use of U.S.-produced structural softwood, home remodeling is another measure of market demand for Oregon wood. This is the sixteenth consecutive quarter of the remodeling RMI score exceeding 60. On a scale of 0 to 100, an RMI score over 50 indicates that more remodelers report “good” market conditions than poor. G-P Invests in Wauna Pulp & Paper Mill Georgia-Pacific will invest $150 million to rebuild the No. 1 tissue paper machine at its Wauna pulp & paper mill, located near Clatskanie. The Wauna plant continues running five other paper machines during the rebuilding. Atlanta-based G-P is a world leading manufacturer of paper and building products, with over 150 facilities and employing 30,000. G-P products are certified as sustainable by the SFI label (Sustainable Forestry Initiative). Other local G-P pulp & paper mills are at Toledo, Halsey, and Camas, WA. Pac Fibre Plant Closes In April, Pacific Fibre Products Inc. closed its North Plains chip plant, under the past year’s worsening chip markets and prices. Pacific Fibre reportedly continues operations at its chip facilities in Molalla and Longview, WA. Lumber Markets In April, structural lumber price indices continued their six-week stall, as U.S. housing starts reported in April took an unexpected decline. At the start of May, lumber price indices were 10% below the same period last year. The approximated lumber index listed below is a U.S. and Canada nationwide composite for various grades of structural lumber, reported by www.nahb.org/. Framing Lumber Price* 5/3/24 4/5/24 Year Ago Framing Lumber Composite Price[mbf] $372 $420 $415 * Source: National Association of Home Builders, reported from Random Lengths Lumber Composite Price—$ per thousand bdft. lumber tally. Log Markets In April, Washington’s reported domestic log prices on the westside and eastside compared to the prior month saw modest changes up or down by 1% to 5%. Domestic mill log prices shown below are WA pond values that are similar to Oregon’s. WA log prices are reported monthly online without fee by WA Dept. of Natural Resources, at: https://www. dnr.wa.gov/programs-and-services/ product-sales-and-leasing/timber-sales/ timber-sale-querylog-prices/. April 2024 WA Delivered Log Prices† WA Coast Region Species & Grade Apr Mar Year Ago Doug fir 2S 760 725 759 Hemlock 2S 535 550 534 Alder 3S 615 606 550 WA Eastside Region Species; camprun Apr Mar Year Ago Doug fir/larch 499 511 492 White fir/hem 476 463 480 Lodgepole 452 454 424 P Pine 390 405 400 † Source: WA Dept of Natural Resources; WA Mill Log Prices; Domestically Processed—$ per thousand bdft; average price; log scale, pond value.
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