Kevin Mason
The Global Supply Chain Pressure Index, which provides a gauge of global supply chain conditions, spiked in April and currently sits at its highest level in almost four years. Several other measures, including the World Bank’s Supply Chain Stress Index are hovering around all-time highs as well. The conflict in the Middle East and resultant spike in energy prices has clearly driven some of the recent increase in supply chain pressure, and the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, along with some ongoing challenges in the Red Sea, have forced many vessels to take longer routes, adding travel time, increasing fuel costs, and stretching capacity.
However, the situation in Iran is not the sole driver of recent supply chain pressure: In the US we are seeing an acute shortage of truck drivers following a government crackdown on driver qualifications and after a wave of trucking-firm bankruptcies. As a result, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ long-distance trucking price index has recently jumped from a reading of 181 in January to 210 in April (also approaching all-time highs last seen during the pandemic). Similarly, overland freight pricing data from DAT Freight and Analytics shows that flatbed truck rates have surged since the onset of the Iran war—the national average spot rate for flatbed trucks was $2.72 per mile in February and has rocketed to $3.64 by May. DAT’s national load-to-truck ratio (the number of loads posted for every available truck posted on the DAT load board) sat at an eye-watering 72 in April, up from 35 in April 2025 and just 19 in April 2024.
A deal with Iran may be in the works, but as we learned after the COVID pandemic, it can take months (if not years) for supply chains to normalize. Buckle up.
Canada has given the US and Mexico official notice that it wants the free trade deal between the three countries to be renewed. In a letter to his American and Mexican counterparts, Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country is seeking renewal of CUSMA when it comes up for review on July 1. LeBlanc is in Washington Tuesday for a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. All the signals from the White House over the past year and a half indicate that the Trump administration does not want a straightforward renewal of CUSMA and instead wants significant changes to its terms. …LeBlanc calls CUSMA “highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy,” but goes on to acknowledge that the other countries may want to propose “improvements.” …Whatever happens on July 1, CUSMA is slated to remain in effect until 2036. 
The US Trade Representative has determined that several Brazilian acts, policies, and practices are actionable under Section 301 and has proposed tariffs of 25% on all goods of Brazil, with specified exemptions and an annex of excluded products. …The determination covers multiple areas, including illegal deforestation, and states that timber and agricultural production linked to illegal deforestation can burden U.S. commerce by lowering costs for competing products and distorting prices. The notice describes timber-sector fraud risks, including the laundering of illegally harvested timber through supply chains, and states that illegally sourced timber products can devalue legally sourced timber prices by an estimated 7% to 16%. On wood-related findings, the notice references concerns that Brazilian products may be made with timber harvested illegally. It also describes limits in auditing and verification under Brazil’s Forest Code registration system. …The notice sets a public comment schedule that opens June 1, 2026.
LOS ANGELES – U.S. President \ Trump on Monday signed a proclamation amending his Section 232 national security tariffs on some aluminum, steel and copper imports, the White House said. The proclamation lowers tariffs on some steel and aluminum derivative products, including certain types of agricultural machineryand residential heating, air conditioning and ventilation equipment to 15% from 25% previously. It makes mobile industrial equipment, such as bulldozers and forklifts, subject to a 15% tariff “when imported from trade deal countries that are entitled to such treatment,” the White House said in a statement. The order also allows foreign companies to qualify for a 10% tariff if “their capital equipment includes at least 85% U.S. melted and poured or smelted and cast steel or aluminum by weight.” …The changes will remain in place until Dec. 31, 2027 “to spur near–term investments that will rebuild the Nation’s industrial base,” the White House said.
JASPER County, Georgia — Firemen from the Jasper, Tri-Community, Beech Grove, East End Fire, Lake Rayburn and Angelina Fire Departments have all converged on the Lincoln Lumber Mill where a fire in the kiln has sent thick smoke into the air that can be seen for miles. No injuries have been reported. Mike Lout with our media partner KJAS reports the fire broke out this morning at the mill off Highway 96, just south of Jasper. First responders say the fire broke out in the dryer house or kiln of the operation. Firemen have so far been able to limit the fire to the drying house. However, flames and smoke are filling the building and firemen are continuing to pump water into the structure.
WAYNE, Pennsylvania — Saothair Capital Partners, a private equity firm, announced it has completed the acquisition of EAM Corp. from Domtar through a newly-formed affiliate. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Jesup, Georgia, EAM is a manufacturer of nonwoven airlaid and laminated absorbent materials used in feminine hygiene, adult incontinence, baby diaper, medical, industrial and food packaging applications. …Following the acquisition, current EAM General Manager Vanecia Carr will serve as Chief Executive Officer and Lori Venn will serve as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
North American lumber futures climbed to approximately USD 597.50 per thousand board feet on June 3, their highest level since April, as persistent supply constraints continued to offset subdued housing demand. North American lumber futures rose to around USD 597.50 per thousand board feet on June 3, reaching their highest level in eight weeks. The move represents a 4.1% increase from a month earlier and reflects a market still dealing with the impact of Canadian import disruption. The price rise comes despite historically soft housing starts, showing that supply concerns remain an important driver for the market. Mills and distributors are holding limited inventories, while seasonal restocking ahead of the summer building season has added support to prices. …The net result is a structurally tight supply position. Mills and distributors are holding limited inventories, while buyers are entering the summer building season with restocking needs.
Lumber increased to 598.00 USD/1000 board feet, the highest since April 2026. Over the past 4 weeks, Lumber gained 3.57%, and in the last 12 months, it increased 0.5%.
Mortgage rates continued to increase in May as inflation accelerated. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.41% in May, up 7 basis points over April. Since the conflict in the Middle East began, the 30-year mortgage rate has increased by 36 basis points. The average 15-year rate averaged 5.76% in May, up 7 bps from April, and up 33 basis points since the end of February. Even so, both rates remain lower than a year ago by 41 bps and 19 bps, respectively. The 10-year Treasury yield, a key benchmark for long-term borrowing, averaged 4.47% in May, 16 bps higher than the previous month. …Persistently high inflation has also strained household budgets. As people used more of their disposable income or drew down on savings to cover everyday expenses, the personal saving rate fell to 2.6% in April. The rate was the lowest since June 2022 when CPI was at its peak.
The US commercial construction and wood products landscape has been undergoing a noticeable geographic realignment. …At the center of this transition are two powerhouse species that help define the market: Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine. Understanding how manufacturers are positioning themselves around these distinct timber baskets might offer valuable insight into where resources are building the critical infrastructure for the next decades of commercial, agricultural, and residential construction in the United States. …While the West Coast navigates these supply bottlenecks, the American South seems to be experiencing a sustained wave of modernization and investment, capitalizing on robust regional resources. …Take for example the recent investments made by companies like Canfor. …The company opened a cutting-edge sawmill complex in Axis, Alabama, an endeavor that highlights the industry’s shift toward high-tech manufacturing.
Mass timber has emerged as a leading material in the pursuit of low-carbon, sustainable construction. With its warm, natural aesthetic and significantly lower embodied carbon than steel and concrete, mass timber is increasingly used across a wide range of building types. However, unlike conventional steel or concrete structures, the very characteristics that make it appealing also create unique challenges. The constraints of mass timber construction, such as exposed structural elements and prefabricated panels with limited flexibility, demand a new level of precision and foresight in the design and coordination of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. By anticipating the structural and aesthetic challenges of mass timber and engaging in thoughtful MEP design and coordination, engineers, architects, and specifiers can deliver high-performance buildings that not only celebrate the beauty of timber but also help meet decarbonization and sustainability goals. …Mass timber’s prefabricated nature and exposed aesthetics require precise, early-stage coordination among mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. 
If you’ve ever spent some time amongst old-house lovers, and especially the craftspeople who work on them, you’ll no doubt have heard mention of “old-growth lumber.” It’s a material that’s spoken of with reverence, usually as supporting evidence for the “they don’t build ’em like they used to” argument, and always contrasted with today’s lumber, which is deemed comparatively subpar. So what is it about old-growth lumber that makes it so legendary, and if it’s so great, why don’t we use it anymore? …So yes, the trees are generally between 100 and 150 years old, but old-growth lumber is also characterized by competition to survive and disturbance history. In other words, if the forest is left alone for long enough, and no natural disasters reset the clock, you end up with old-growth trees. So it’s not that we can’t produce old-growth lumber now, it’s that it doesn’t fit our production needs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Andrea Salinas (D-OR) introduced the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act. This marks the third consecutive year that legislation promoting mass timber for federal contracts has been introduced. This bipartisan legislation provides incentives for the use of mass timber building materials in federal contracting, giving timber and other forest products companies the ability to compete for construction, renovation, or acquisition of public buildings, and for military construction. The bill creates a two-tier contracting preference for mass timber and other innovative wood projects. The first-tier preference applies to mass timber that is made within the U.S. and responsibly sourced from state, federal, private, and Tribal forestlands. The optional second tier applies to mass timber products that are sourced from restoration practices, fire mitigation projects, and forest owners. Additionally, this bill contains a reporting requirement for a whole building lifecycle assessment. 
Three environmental groups are suing to block the logging of nearly 400 acres of state forestland in Washington’s Elwha Watershed. Filed Monday, the lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources argues the agency failed to adequately assess the environmental harm of two timber sales, known as “Parched” and “Tree Well.” Logging would pose a “direct threat” to Port Angeles’ drinking water, which is sourced solely from the Elwha River, the lawsuit contends. “There’s only about 800 acres of structurally complex forests left in the watershed. And nearly half of those are these two timber sales that we appealed,” said Elizabeth Dunne, an attorney with Earth Law Center… Under the Department of Natural Resources’ standards, only trees that predate 1850 are considered old growth and set aside for conservation. The oldest stands proposed for harvest in the Parched sale are around 140 years old, dating back only to the 1880s. 
Wildfire season is upon us in Northern Arizona. Although our fire-adapted ponderosa pine forest could experience a wildfire at any time, May and June are typically the driest and most fire-prone months for large, destructive wildfires, following spring’s gusting winds that strip moisture from grasses and downed logs. National Weather Service (NWS) officials say this year, especially, we need to be particularly vigilant as winter’s snowpack was far below normal. Although last fall’s warm storms bumped up precipitation for the year with 0.93 inches above-normal rainfall, winter snowfall fell short. Just 26.9 inches of snow landed in Flagstaff for the 2025-’26 winter season, far below the 90-inch annual average. Thus, Flagstaff is entering summer with a snowpack deficit that ranked this winter season as the fourth-lowest snowfall in Flagstaff’s recorded weather history, dating to 1899.
Barred owls …are now officially under attack themselves. Theoretically, they’ve been in danger since the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife released its barred owl management plan in 2024, announcing its intention to kill tens of thousands of barred owls per year for up to 30 years to protect the northern spotted owl and California spotted owl populations. The federal government and some environmentalist groups agree that protecting the endangered owl is necessary, but others argue it is inhumane and exists only to aid the timber industry. It’s been two years since the plan’s announcement, but only since November has a group in Washington officially begun killing barred owls… The Yakama Nation Tribe in South Central Washington has initiated barred owl management on reservation lands and is actively killing the once-protected species. They are the first and currently the only group in Washington to do so.
MONTANA — The US Forest Service and the timber industry have effectively lobbied Congress to enact laws based on fire paranoia that cut the public owners of these forests out of the process. They want the government to build roads at taxpayer expense to while compromising the best remaining fish and wildlife habitat and quiet spaces. Upon a molehill of truth they have constructed a mountain of disinformation. Claiming an emergency, the Forest Service is fast-tracking commercial timber sales in ways that severely limit and exempt them from environmental analysis. …They are removing the administrative review and public objection process. The bad stuff for wildlife, fish and people including ugly clearcuts, road construction and reduced water quality are being frontloaded. The good stuff including stream restoration and road reclamation are back ended. If past is prologue, the latter will not be funded or implemented as the Forest Service shifts its priority.
A bill aimed at making Louisiana more enticing to the wood pellet industry has sailed through the state Legislature. House Bill 670 won unanimous approval in the Louisiana House and Senate and was granted final passage on Wednesday (May 27). It would ease regulations for pellet manufacturers while directing state support toward workforce development, financial incentives and infrastructure improvements designed to meet the industry’s needs. The industry has come under fire for repeatedly breaking air pollution rules in Louisiana and Mississippi and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom, where most of the pellets are burned to produce energy marketed as “sustainable biomass.” The bill’s supporters admitted they knew little about the industry but backed the measure in hopes of reviving the state’s struggling logging sector. …“This bill uses taxpayer money to support a foreign industry and makes it easier for them to pollute Louisianians’ air and water,” said the Dogwood Alliance. 
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — A worker at a lumber mill in north Tuscaloosa County was killed in a workplace accident Wednesday night, investigators have confirmed. Captain Jack Kennedy, the commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, confirmed that they are investigating a workplace fatality at the W G Sullivan Lumber Co. on Highway 171 east of Samantha in the northern part of the county. Kennedy said the worker, whose identity the VCU is not publicly releasing, died in an accident involving machinery. He said the body will be sent to Montgomery, where the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy. At this time, the VCU does not believe there was a criminal element to the death, which is why they are not identifying the victim publicly.