US lumber futures climbed above $630 per thousand board feet this week, their highest level since October, as buyers rushed to secure supply ahead of revised US duties on Canadian softwood lumber and continued uncertainty over final tariff levels.<\/p>\n
The benchmark CME contract rose despite Washington's decision to reduce preliminary antidumping and countervailing duty rates on Canadian lumber. Market participants said the change was less significant than it appeared because most Canadian producers continue to face effective import duties approaching 45% until the revised rates take effect in August.<\/p>\n
Even after the new rates are implemented, Canadian lumber entering the United States will still be subject to a combined tariff burden of about 35.9%, including the existing Section 232 duty.<\/p>\n
Rather than easing concerns, the announcement appears to have encouraged some buyers to bring purchases forward while awaiting final duty determinations later this year.<\/p>\n
The market remains sensitive to Canadian supply. Despite years of investment in southern US sawmill capacity, domestic production has not eliminated dependence on Canadian imports, particularly in regions where Canadian lumber remains a key source of supply.<\/p>\n
The US housing market also continues to provide a substantial base level of demand. A typical single-family home requires roughly 15,000 board feet of framing lumber in addition to significant volumes of plywood, oriented strand board (OSB) and other engineered wood products.<\/p>\n
Traders remain focused on supply availability and import costs rather than the headline reduction in duty rates.<\/p>\n
The US Lumber Coalition welcomed the preliminary calculations. Executive Director Zoltan van Heyningen said the findings confirmed the coalition's long-standing position that Canadian producers continue to benefit from unfair trade practices.<\/p>\n
Canadian producers took the opposite view. Luc Theriault, co-chair of the Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance and head of wood products at Domtar, said the duties continue to increase costs for US customers that depend on Canadian lumber.<\/p>\n
According to industry figures cited by the coalition, Canada has annual softwood lumber production capacity of approximately 27 billion board feet while domestic consumption totals roughly 7 billion<\/p>\n
With final duty decisions still pending and Canadian lumber remaining expensive to import, traders expect lumber markets to remain highly sensitive to developments in the dispute during the second half of 2026.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US lumber futures climbed above $630 per thousand board feet this week, their highest level since October, as buyers rushed to secure supply ahead of revised US duties on Canadian softwood lumber and continued uncertainty over final tariff levels.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n