Milan Lumber Co. is embarking on a $12 million project to expand and upgrade its softwood sawmill.

High domestic demand for lumber in the U.S. and a trade dispute with China reduced U.S. softwood exports in 2019 and 2020.

Softwood lumber exports from British Columbia to the U.S. have fallen 20 percent from last March, according to the Canadian federal government.

Last week, within hours after Trump announced the 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, many industries rose up in protest, said Gene Wengert, the Wood Dr. “Auto manufacturing indicated that this tariff would raise prices, affect sales and cause large (maybe 200,000) unemployment,” he said. “These industries responded within hours of Trump’s action. The stock market lost around 2 percent.”  

Rex Lumber Co. has announced plans to build a $110 million state-of-the-art softwood lumber manufacturing facility in Pike County, Alabama, creating more than 110 jobs.

SEATTLE -- Increased demand for softwood lumber worldwide has pushed lumber prices higher, especially in the United States and China during the first half of 2017, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly, published by Wood Resources International LLC.