With the cold and stormy weather hitting across most of the country at the time of this writing, it made it difficult to get into the forests, and so some sawmills felt the supply of logs were lower than expected for this time of year. As such, output was not meeting market needs for certain species. There is still a labor shortage due to COVID-19 and maintaining social distancing requirements in operations. Also, the U.S. housing demand is putting a strain on supplies of hardwood finished goods. This is good news for secondary manufacturers of cabinets, flooring, mouldings and millwork, as it is keeping these businesses busy. Prices of hardwoods have, as a result, increased. Contacts note interest in pallet lumber cants has improved as well.
Ash demand, noted some contacts, were good, especially for the upper grades. Sawmills and wholesalers are shipping full green productions, although Ash production wasn’t very high over the winter months.
Aspen is the species that some secondary manufacturers and wholesalers rely on during the winter months to carry their inventories into spring. Although output increased, many mills focused on Hard Maple and other higher valued species over Aspen. And so, the supply of Aspen is not meeting market needs. Demand for kiln-dried Aspen, contacts noted, was mostly steady, but inventories were thin.
Birch is seeing high activity due to the strong home construction and remodeling markets in both Canada and the U.S. Demand for cabinets, furniture, mouldings, millwork and other components improved the sales of this species. As for other species, prices are on the rise for Birch. Sawmills and wholesale contacts state they are shipping total production.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, inventories of Basswood were ample, as was the case for other species. Throughout the pandemic, sales were reduced, and supplies of Basswood were high until the third quarter of 2020. The production of this species contracted during the course of 2020, but buyers are more active now. Inventories have worked down, with some companies noting shortages of thicker stocks. As stated, production has increased, but the focus is on more valuable species. Supplies of green lumber are low for certain thicknesses.
Some contacts stated there are still shortages for Hard Maple, even though mills are saying they are receiving more logs than in the past couple of months. Production is not meeting demand, and buyers are struggling to increase their inventories of this species. Prices, of course, are on the rise. Demand of kiln-dried stocks is outpacing available supplies, they commented, with kiln-dried inventories being thin to nonexistent for some.
Like Hard Maple, demand for Soft Maple is equally strong, with markets readily absorbing green and kiln-dried supplies. Contacts stated the price difference between these two species is seen as an advantage to using Soft Maple. Consumers’ prefer the look of Maple rather than opened grained species. Production is not keeping pace with demand from buyers, and prices are up also for most grades and thicknesses. Sales of color selected items are strong.
The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released its latest report on Ontario’s labour market, evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on employment across various demographic groups, industries, and major cities. Overall, Ontario lost 355,300 jobs last year, marking the province’s largest annual decline in employment on record. The job loss caused the province’s annual unemployment rate to jump to 9.6 percent in 2020, the highest since 1993.
Some of the statistics in the report include, Thunder Bay (-5.9 percent) and Greater Sudbury (-6.7 percent) experienced job loss at a sharper pace relative to the provincial average. Construction in Greater Sudbury and the wholesale and retail trade in Thunder Bay drove the job losses, according to the report.
The FAO report said many of Ontario’s Census Metropolitan Areas experienced record declines in annual employment, although the pace varied across regions. Peterborough recorded the toughest job losses (-13.5 percent) among the major cities in 2020, with two fifths of the decline in the construction sector. Windsor (-10.9 percent) was second, with significant contractions in wholesale and retail trade, and information, culture and recreation.
The report also stated that another 765,000 people had work hours cut. Youth unemployment jumped to 22 percent. Labour groups, noting many people still out of work and facing an end to emergency benefits, called on Ottawa to provide extra weeks of aid beyond the maximum 26. The latest federal data at the time of this writing show the Canada Recovery Benefit has paid out $9.88 billion in the $500-a-week aid to more than 1.7 million people in the past four months.
The federal government has started receiving the COVID-19 vaccines and has started its rollout across many provinces. It is expected that all Canadians should be vaccinated by September. As global vaccination efforts continue, it is everyone’s hope that this will greatly reduce the spread of the coronavirus and we will be able to return to a normal life.
