Economics
Lumber Mills Trail Rebound in U.S. as Beetles Bite: Commodities
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North American lumber mills are operating at the fastest pace in four years as U.S. home building rebounds, just as the worst beetle infestation on record curbs supply.
About 52.5 billion board feet, the standard industry measure, will be sawed this year, 5.4 percent more than in 2011 and the most since 2008, CIBC World Markets estimates. Lumber traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange may rally 11 percent to $350 per 1,000 board feet by March, the highest since 2006, said Paul Jannke, an analyst at Forest Economic Advisors LLC, a Westford, Massachusetts-based industry consultant.