The work stoppage on CN Rail ended - as of mid-day Tuesday - which was soon enough to avoid truly negative impact on Canada’s forest industry. After achieving dizzying highs in summer 2018, most standard construction framing dimension softwood lumber prices are now higher than last month and one year ago, while specialty lumber items remain lower than one year ago.
Not unexpected at this time of year, another major sawmill curtailment, this time by Canfor, will take enough production offline into 2020 to keep lumber prices at least at current levels.