Missoulian: Chinese Now Helping Timber Market Too
The world timber market may finally be cutting the United States a break. But local loggers aren’t ready to celebrate.
“Earlier, we thought we might have been done a month ago,” Kalispell logger Kenny Swanstrom said. “Now we’re going to go right until they close the roads down. As gloomy a year as it was, it’s really nice to hear that somebody wants you.”
A reason for that uptick is the demand for lumber in Asia. Swanstrom said machinery dealers he’s talked with report that the Canadian lumber industry has been landing big contracts from Chinese buyers. U.S. exports have also jumped. That has the double advantage of increasing prices domestic mills pay for logs and decreasing competition from Canadian exports to the U.S.
And, Big Rigs favored two to one according to new poll.
Jay Scott with KBLL in Helena had this:
The Motor Carriers of Montana say most Montanans support letting oversized loads of oil refining equipment travel through Montana from Idaho.
The group says a new survey shows state residents support the travel by a two to one margin.
The survey was conducted last week among four hundred adults.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil want to ship giant mega loads from Lewiston, Idaho into Montana along non-interstate routes.
The Director of the Montana Department of Transportation, Jim Lynch, has said he would approve the permits once Idaho has issued its permits.
Montana Watchdog: Expect a Better Economy in 2011
Montana will have better growth in 2011 than it did last year, especially in the second half of the year and in to 2012 when the economy will have its best performance since 2006, University of Montana researchers said Tuesday.
And Lewis and Clark County, the home of the state capitol, will have a long period of “tepid” growth, researchers said.
The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research held the first of nine discussions statewide on its annual Economic Outlook Seminar held before about 250 people at the Best Western Great Northern Hotel in Helena.