Lumber prices are touching a six-month high due to a growing shortage of timber. While there are no exchange traded funds tied to lumber futures, investors can still gain access to the commodity through equity-based funds.
Two lumber producers shutdown operations in British Colombia after a beetle infestation decimated forests in the area, reports Joe Richter for Bloomberg.
Paul Jannke, an analyst at Forest Economic Advisors LLC, believes the shutdown will exacerbate supply concerns that were already heightened on low inventories.
“This is definitely going to bolster prices going into next year,” Jannke said in the article. “It’s also coming at a time when you typically start to see mills going down for maintenance.”
Improving weather conditions have increased hardwood lumber production, but the lack of loggers has kept production below demand this year, reports Andy Johnson for Woodwoorking Network.
The rebounding U.S. housing market has also bolstered the lumber market, with wood imports over the first seven months this year at their highest since 2008, according to Woodworking Network.