With upward housing mkt, 14 lumber mills reopen

The Plum Creek Timber mill in Evergreen is far removed from the housing recovery making headlines nationwide — but its fortunes are not. After a four-year shutdown, the Montana mill reopened in March thanks to rising lumber prices and a surge in home building. The mill, which makes studs used to frame houses, now employs 30, half of its former workforce. It carries a $1.5 million annual payroll that’ll roll through the local economy. “It’s a big deal to see this mill reopen,” says Tom Ray, Plum Creek vice president. The recovery of the housing market is benefiting many industries. But few are as directly tied to home building as wood products and timber. With single-family housing starts up 23 percent last year — and forecast to rise 26 percent this year — demand for lumber is soaring, and so are prices. That’s fueled a reopening of some sawmills and shift expansions in others. Logging employment rose 3.5 percent last year, the first increase in 12 years, government data shows. Housing is now growing faster than the overall economy. That’s helping companies from home improvement retailers such as Home Depot to truck makers and furniture sellers. But a full 70 percent of U.S. lumber demand is driven by housing, including new construction and remodeling. At the height of the housing boom in 2005, consumption of U.S. lumber hit almost 65 billion board feet. It fell to about half that at the bottom of the market in 2010. Last year, it climbed back to 37.5 billion and will likely pass 40 billion this year, FEA estimates...more

That's all good news, but...since 2008 146 lumber mills have closed, and of those 14 that have reopened, 5 are in the U.S., with the rest being in Canada.