World Perspectives

Lumber Price Turnaround

After more than a year of sharply rising prices, softwood lumber is finally starting to show some cracks. Due to circumstances related to COVID, softwood lumber prices increased by 370 percent. Lumber mills expected 2020 to be like any other recession year in which housing starts collapse. By the time it was realized that working from home would lead to an investment boom in housing, the gap in production resulted in shortages and then problems hiring back workers. Lumber production is also stifled by beetles and wildfires. However, softwood prices may now be softening. Futures prices remain elevated well into 2022 but that could be changing. Last week, futures prices fell 14 percent and they shaved off another 4.5 percent today. U.S. fore...

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From WPI Consulting

Forecasting developments in production agriculture

On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.

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