PITTSBURGH — Koppers Holdings Inc., an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds, today reported net income attributable to Koppers for the third quarter of 2024 of $22.8 million, or $1.09 per diluted share, compared to $26.3 million, or $1.22 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter. The financial results in the current year quarter reflect the acquisition of Brown Wood Preserving Company, which closed on April 1, 2024. …After considering the current competitive environment, global economic conditions, as well as the ongoing uncertainty associated with geopolitical and supply chain challenges, Koppers expects 2024 sales of approximately $2.1 billion, compared with sales of $2.15 billion in 2023. As a result, adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be approximately $270 million to $275 million in 2024, including the acquisition of Brown Wood which closed on April 1, 2024, compared with $256.4 million in 2023.
Re: Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. …While the announcement garnered much attention, few traders considered the threat credible, and the industry as a whole took a wait-and-see approach to the news. In Western S-P-F, upward price momentum paused as the US holiday approached. Buyers had an easier time covering immediate needs, and declined to extend inventories, especially in spots where winter weather had settled in. Lumber futures was little changed in early trading. Buyers across the South lacked urgency amid abundant supplies of most items. Downward price pressure was unabated. Many veteran traders noted that the price spread between Southern Pine and Western S-P-F was the widest they had seen in their careers and expressed surprise that species substitution was not more prevalent. In Coast markets, upward price momentum and tight supplies kept prices trending higher in uneventful trading. 
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping new tariffs on imports, leading his critics to argue that the plan will raise prices and spur inflation. …Nearly 10% of building materials used in residential construction are imported, according to the NAHB… and Canada probably accounts for the bulk of those imports. “Any tariffs that raise the cost of building products will have a detrimental effect on housing affordability,” says NAHB CEO Jim Tobin. ….A steep tariff on Canadian lumber would likely hit homebuilders the hardest—and could raise the prices of new homes, at least temporarily. But observers are skeptical that Trump would impose a steep, immediate tariff on such a fundamental raw material imported from a close ally. NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that it’s possible any tariff on lumber could be imposed over a ramp-up period to allow U.S. timber mills to boost production.
OTTAWA – Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated more than expected to 2% in October as gas prices fell less than the previous month, data showed on Tuesday, shrinking market bets for a bigger rate cut next month. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the inflation rate would speed up to 1.9% from 1.6% in September. In August, the annual rate was 2%. It was the first pick-up in the annual inflation rate since May. The central bank forecasts consumer price inflation to be 2.5% this year and 2.2% next year. …This was the last inflation data to be released ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement on Dec. 11, and currency markets now see around a 28% chance of a 50 basis point rate cut, down from 37% before the CPI data release.
VANCOUVER, BC — Conifex Timber reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. EBITDA was negative $3.9 million for the quarter compared to EBITDA of negative $7.1 million in the second quarter of 2024 and negative $6.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Net loss was $3.8 million for the quarter versus net loss of $9.7 million in the previous quarter and negative $8.0 million for the year-earlier quarter. …Shipments of Conifex-produced lumber totaled 29.3 million board feet in the third quarter of 2024, representing a decrease of 24% from the 38.5 million board feet shipped in the previous quarter. …Looking ahead to the final quarter of 2024, our average mill net selling price through the first six weeks of the quarter was 17.5% higher.
VANCOUVER – Western Forest Products reported a net loss of $19.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, as compared to a net loss of $17.4 million in the third quarter of 2023, and a net loss of $5.7 million in the second quarter of 2024. Other highlights include: Lumber production of 127 million board feet (versus 126 million board feet in Q3 2023); Lumber shipments of 138 million board feet (versus 130 million board feet in Q3 2023); Average lumber selling price of $1,378 per mfbm (versus $1,388 per mfbm in Q3 2023), primarily due to a slightly weaker sales mix of specialty lumber products; and Average BC log sales price of $113 per m3 (versus $118 per m3 in Q3 2023). …As previously announced, we plan to reduce lumber production in our BC sawmills by approximately 30 million board feet in Q4 2024, following reductions of approximately 30 million board feet in Q3 2024.
ONTARIO — Housing starts over the next few years will likely weaken and the already-dire supply shortage could get even worse, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is warning. A 
The U.S. exported 839,226.4 metric tons of wood pellets in October, down from 898,128.2 metric tons the previous month, but up from 835,490.8 metric tons in October 2023, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. The U.S. exported wood pellets to approximately a dozen countries in October. The U.K. was the top destination for U.S. wood pellet exports at 700,824 metric tons, followed by Denmark at 92,850.8 metric tons. The value of U.S. wood pellet exports fell to $154.72 million in October, down from $167.05 million in September and $155.41 million in October of last year. Total wood pellet exports for the first 10 months of 2024 reached 8.25 million metric tons at a value of $1.53 billion.
The uptick in fuel prices will likely be temporary, said Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America. However, the broader uncertainty tied to potential trade policy changes under the incoming Trump administration presents a new layer of unpredictability for contractors. …Future prices for crude oil and copper, typically reliable predictors of upcoming producer price index shifts, have recently declined. That indicates the potential for a near-term dip in energy input costs, he said. Contractors have largely benefited from input price stabilization in 2024. As of October, contractors expect their profit margins to expand through the first quarter of 2025. …“The next administration’s trade policy increases uncertainty regarding construction material costs,” said Basu. “Beyond the implications of potential tariffs, input prices may rise in the short term if purchasers rush to import materials prior to the implementation of those policies.”
WASHINGTON – US single-family homebuilding tumbled in October as Hurricanes Helene and Milton depressed activity in the South and permits rose slightly, suggesting that a rebound was likely to be muted by higher mortgage rates. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, plunged 6.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 970,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Data for September was revised higher to show homebuilding rising to a rate of 1.042 million units from the previously reported pace of 1.027 million units. Single-family starts dropped 10.2% in the South. Permits for future construction of single-family housing gained 0.5% to a rate of 968,000 units. …Mortgage rates initially fell as the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates in September. They have, however, erased that decline on strong economic data and concerns that Trump’s policies could reignite inflation.
Jennifer Coskren, Fastmarkets’ director of wood products and timber, comments on the state of the US housing market and a look ahead to 2025. …Construction will ease about 5.5% this year, with the single-family component of our forecast still up 5% to just under one million units. While the September rate cuts by the Federal Reserve may not immediately boost new home construction, future cuts are likely to encourage side lined buyers to enter the market. We are expecting an improvement in construction in 2025. We anticipate a rebound in both single-family and multi-family starts, with a forecast of approximately 1.5 million units, of which 1.1 million of them are single-family. Both single-family and multi-family are forecast to be up around 11%.
Framing lumber prices continued to climb, and traders tried to assess a number of factors that might affect the market moving forward. The US presidential election injected a dose of optimism among some traders. They also weighed the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut the benchmark interest rate 25 basis points, while Freddie Mac noted mortgage rates were still rising. The Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price gained for the sixth straight week, climbing $11 to $441. That is its highest level since August 2023. A fading Southern Pine market was once again an exception to an otherwise upward trend in most framing lumber species. While supply-driven strength persisted in Canada and the western US, downward price momentum mounted in the South. …Western S-P-F prices continued to climb by double-digit increments in most cases. Buyers with immediate needs padded thin inventories with available supplies.
The Lane County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a property tax exemption for Weyerhaeuser’s planned improvements to its Cottage Grove sawmill, a move officials say will help secure high-paying jobs in the region while ensuring the timber company remains competitive. Weyerhauser, a Seattle-based timber company, applied for the exemption to delay paying taxes on a planned $120 million upgrade to the sawmill, which it says currently employs 225 people. Under the agreement, Weyerhaeuser will save $7.2 million in property taxes over five years, but the company must make a 10% “community benefit payment,” which will be shared by the South Lane School District and the Cottage Grove Community Medical Center Foundation. Additionally, state law mandates Weyerhaeuser pay supplemental fees to the school district in the fourth and fifth years of the exemption.
Policymakers are looking out for indications of what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do to ease housing costs next year. …Trump has spoken frequently of his proposed 60% tariff on goods from China, which he has said would create more manufacturing jobs in the US. …But housing economists and other experts say that could be bad news for building more affordable housing. Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, a financial services company, said tariffs are one of her main concerns about the effects of a second Trump term. “One of the biggest concerns is not just lumber [costs], but the overall cost of materials, which have been going up,” Hepp said. Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning in the department of planning and landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said building costs are already high from tariffs on Canadian lumber.
The U.K. is expected to import a record 9.641 million metric tons of wood pellets in 2024, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network in November. The expected record in wood pellet imports for 2024 follows a significant decrease in U.K. wood pellet imports in 2023 and 2023, which the report attributes to changes in global wood pellet prices and competition from other energy sources. The U.K. primarily uses wood pellets for industrial energy production, with more than 93% of the country’s wood pellet demand in 2024 expected to be used for that purpose. …The U.S. is the largest supplier of wood pellets to the U.K., accounting for 73% of imports in 2023 by volume. Other sources of U.K. pellet imports are Canada, Latvia, the Netherlands, Estonia and Brazil.
