Weyerhaeuser CEO sees decade of strong wood demand but prices coming down



Weyerhaeuser CEO sees decade of strong wood demand but prices coming down | Weyerhaeuser,

SEATTLE (From news reports) -- Weyerhaeuser CEO Devin Stockfish believes the home-building and renovation boom could keep wood demand strong for another decade.

But Stockfish says the recent price frenzy - which elevated wood prices above $1,000 per 1,000 board ft. for the first time ever earlier this year before touching a record high above $1,700 in May - is unsustainable.

"I don't think $1,000 lumber prices are the new normal," Stockfish told the Nareit REITweek 2021 Investor Conference. "With that being said, when you think about the amount of housing we're going to have to build in the U.S. over the next three, five, 10 years, that's a significant amount of demand for wood products."

Stockfish's bullish outlook comes as rival Canfor says it will spend $160M on a new sawmill in Louisiana while canceling a previously announced project in Georgia, while West Fraser Timber has said it plans to expand capacity at five U.S. mills and Interfor is buying four Georgia-Pacific sawmills.

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