I've always wondered ...DisinformationMake Me Smart DailyFast-Track VaccinesRace and Economy

Loading...

0:00
0% played
What have you always wondered about the economy? Tell us
Stories Tagged as

Lumber

COVID-19

Housing starts pick up — prices too

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer
Aug 18, 2020
Lumber prices are surging, along with prices of Chinese-made components that go into building a home.
A construction worker roofing a New York residence in May. Housing starts were up more than 22% in July.
Al Bello/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE
COVID-19

Lumber prices climb as people stuck at home build those gazebos they've been putting off

by Andy Uhler
Jul 10, 2020
The price of lumber is at a 2½ year high, driven by a sawmill slowdown and more interest in home projects.
Timber on the dock of a New Zealand port in February. Demand for lumber hasn't slowed, but production has.
Phil Yeo/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Home Depot blames lumber prices for drop in sales

by Amy Scott
Aug 20, 2019
The company says that a better price for lumber is better for business.
A customer's lumber sits on a cart at a Home Depot store on in 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The company cited lumber price deflation as a reason it trimmed its outlook for 2019.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

Lumber trade dispute and tariffs boost U.S. wood products

by Esther Honig
Sep 20, 2018
Prices for U.S. softwood lumber have jumped since tariffs against Canadian lumber took effect last year.
A machine piles pine logs for processing at the Montrose Forest Products sawmill. In 2012, this Colorado log yard was nearly empty. 
Esther Honig/Harvest Public Media
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE
The Big Promise

Satisfied with Trump in rural Pennsylvania

by Kai Ryssdal and Daisy Palacios
Feb 20, 2018
We check in with small business owners about changes they've seen with Trump as president.
Union City, Pennsylvania — population 3,300, is located in the rural outskirts of Erie.
Marketplace
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Blue-collar jobs that pay 6 figures are going unfilled

by Kai Ryssdal and Emily Henderson
Jul 3, 2017
'This is an avenue for even some folks with college degrees.'
“There are a lot of people with college degrees now competing for some of the most competitive jobs out there, and some of them are ending up applying for jobs at 84 Lumber,” Prashant Gopal says.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Canadian lumber is the first demonstration of Trump’s tough-on-trade promises

by Jed Kim
Apr 25, 2017
When President Trump promised he’d be tough on trade, Canada wasn’t a name he threw around much. But his administration’s first big trade tax turns out to be a proposed 20 percent or so tariff on Canadian “soft lumber.” That’s pine, spruce, fir — the kind of wood used to build homes. Secretary of Commerce […]
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

You’ve got questions. We help you answer them.

Support nonprofit, independent journalism that makes you smarter.

Invest in Marketplace

Lumber mills buzzing again in Louisiana

by Kate Archer Kent
Jul 1, 2013
Louisiana manufacturers that produce lumber plan to reopen and expand factories, as nationwide housing market shows steady recovery.
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Downside of a housing rebound? The price of plywood on the rise

by Adam Allington
Mar 22, 2013
As the housing market recovers, prices for some construction and building materials reach pre-bust highs
Thanks to improvements in the hosuing market, demand for plywood and other lumber products is growing. But suppliers haven't been able to keep up with demand, so prices are unusaully high.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Lumber stacks up big profits

by Dan Gorenstein
Feb 26, 2013
Despite a 46 percent jump in softwood lumber prices, many timber companies are wary to head into the forests.
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE