According to Random Lengths‘ research, if the 2007 housing market settles at between 1.6-1.7 million units – and some analysts now believe this is optimistic – the industry may need to cut annual output by at least 10 billion board feet from its 2005 peak.
European exporters may provide some help, as many are pulling back from the US market. European companies supplied around two billion board feet of timber in 2005, an annual level that some importers say could be halved.
While this will help, Random Lengths believes the bulk of the cutbacks will have to come from US and Canadian suppliers to rebalance supply with demand.
