Finance
U.S. Lumber Importers Drive Buying Mania for European Wood
- Americans buyers looking to Europe to feed U.S. home building
- China and India up their European lumber bids, importer says
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Facing skyrocketing lumber prices at home, U.S. importers are driving competition for European wood, and winning.
The frenzy comes on the heels of record American forest-products imports from Europe in 2020, when North American demand soared and caught sawmills off guard with low inventories. Lumber prices have reached new peaks on a near daily basis in recent weeks, quadrupling from just a year ago. The unprecedented rally has been spurred by low borrowing rates, an increased appetite for larger homes, and a frenzy of do-it-yourself renovations during the pandemic.