Why are lumber prices through the roof, and what’s being done about it? – National & International News – MON 17May2021

Why are lumber prices soaring? Supreme Court weighs Mississippi abortion restrictions. China using slave labor to take the lead in the solar power market.

NATIONAL NEWS

Lumber prices at all-time high

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a house, fixing up your old one, or building a new one, you’ll have noticed that lumber prices have skyrocketed in the past year. This month, the price of lumber in the US reached an all-time high of $1,686 per thousand board feet, more than 5 times the $333 this time last year. In some cases, the rise has been even more dramatic. Some builders say they’re having difficulty getting any lumber at all.

How did it start?

While COVID has taken a lot of the blame for this, Thom Rafferty of Millbrook Lumber Inc. in Boston clarifies that, “COVID added additional fuel to an already existing inferno”.

Homebuilding never really recovered after the 2008 recession, causing supply lines to contract over time. In the meantime, European suppliers have shifted their focus towards fueling the construction boom in China. On top of this, former President Trump placed tariffs on lumber imported from Canada, the US’ major supplier. Finally, Canadian and US lumber suppliers cut back production during the COVID downturn, fearing a supply glut. Getting that ball rolling again is going to take time.

The greater problem

As that time wears on, the possibility grows for the housing shortage and building slowdown to lead to a recession. According to Jerry Howard of the National Association of Homebuilders, the health of the housing market is closely tied to overall economic health.

Howard says, “The fact is if this continues, you will see the homebuilding sector slow down and grind to a halt. This problem with lumber and other building material costs is sort of setting another potential perfect storm for housing to lead us into a recession”.

What’s being done?

In the halls of power, there’s not much that can be done. Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo has added alleviating the lumber crisis to her growing list of “top priorities“. Builders are calling on the Biden administration to eliminate Trump’s tariff on Canadian wood, which currently stands at 9%. Even if that happens, alleviating the supply bottlenecks that are primarily responsible for the price hike is a different problem altogether.

At the consumer level, some DIYers have resorted to buying their own milling machines to produce their own lumber. The low-end milling machines start at a little over $3000, with higher-end models costing 10s of $1000s. An Indiana-based portable sawmill producer says that, before the pandemic, they sold about one sawmill a week. They now take deposits for three or four sawmills a day.

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US Supreme Court to weigh Mississippi abortion restrictions

The US Supreme court has agreed to hear a case involving states’ ability to ban abortions before the generally-recognized 28-week viability benchmark.

In 2018, Mississippi passed a law banning abortions after 15 weeks. Lower courts have repeatedly struck down this law, citing its inconsistence with Supreme Court precedent. That precedent upholds a woman’s right to an abortion at any time before the point that the fetus would be viable outside the womb. However, recent dramatic changes in the make-up of the Supreme Court have opened the possibility of the court setting a new precedent.

Many of the court’s new conservative justices are vocal opponents of abortion. These views have generally been given as their personal stance rather than their professional legal opinion. It remains to be seen how these personal views will bear on the justices’ rulings in the highest court.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

China uses slave labor to make solar panels

China is determined to take the lead in the global sustainable energy market. While the idea of a global race for sustainable energy may be welcome news to those worried about the climate emergency, China’s methods leave a lot to be desired. Aside from rampant intellectual property theft, China’s strategy also depends heavily on coerced labor from its Uighur minorities. 

According to Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University, Xinjiang, home to most of China’s Uighurs, produces about 45% of the world’s supply of polysilicon, a key component in solar panel production. Several nations have recently accused the Chinese government of perpetrating a genocide against its Uighur Muslims. The state-sponsored “poverty alleviation” program has pushed millions of Uighurs into “re-education” camps and forced labor camps. 

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