North American lumber prices will extend gains this year as homebuilding and renovations cause demand for wood to outstrip production, according to Forest Economic Advisors LLC. “Production is going to have a hard time keeping up with demand growth as the world economy bounces back from COVID-19 in 2021-22,” Paul Jannke. …Renovation activity is expected to stay “extremely strong,” according to Brendan Lowney. “We’ll come off a boil, but we expect that market to still run hotter than it has in the last 10 years.” North America’s lumber deficit will mean that more wood product needs to be imported from Central Europe, where a beetle infestation has killed trees and led to increased logging, according to Jannke. U.S. lumber imports will need to increase by roughly 14 per cent to 15 per cent this year, Jannke said. “There’s not going to be enough fiber to supply global demand for saw timber over the next decade.”