Ahh - That Russian Wood is Screwing The U.S.

[packman]

Russia has emerged as one of the winners from the trade dispute between Canada and the U.S over lumber.

The U.S. is importing more softwood lumber from overseas after it slapped tariffs on Canadian supplies, making them more expensive. Russian shipments are 42 per cent higher so far in 2017, according to U.S. government data.

To be sure, Russia accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total, while European countries such as Germany and Sweden are among the biggest suppliers to the U.S. But the shift in volumes illustrate how a political spat has quickly altered the flow of international trade.....

The dispute has increased material costs for house builders in the U.S. by 20 per cent, according to Howard (chief executive officer of the National Association of Home Builders). Lumber futures traded in Chicago have gained 11 per cent this year, among the best performance of all the commodities tracked by Bloomberg
...
The additional cost of Canadian lumber is not only saddling U.S. consumers with extra costs but threatens to price some of them out of the market, according to Howard. For every $1,000 price increase of a home, 150,000 people are priced out of the market, he said

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/us-houses-are-using-more-russian-lumber-thanks-to-canada-spat/article36039527/

[applegrove]

1. Our lumber is cheaper in Canada because we have more of it vs a vs

our population.