Battery waste faces domestic-sale rule as industrial leasing activity increases
Lumber prices have risen as available supply contracts, even while home sales slump and renovation spending weakens, according to The Wall Street Journal. Imports have declined amid steep duties on Canadian boards and President Trump’s 10% softwood-lumber tariff.
Sawmills also curtailed production or closed after low prices last year. The closures extended from British Columbia to northern Florida, reducing the amount of material available to the market.
Devin Stockfish, chief executive of Weyerhaeuser, said the production loss may persist. “I don’t anticipate that those mills that have been shut down are going to come back. There’s a certain amount of volume that’s just out of the system.”
The supply-driven increase differs from the market during the COVID-19 pandemic. A suburban building boom and a do-it-yourself surge helped push two-by-four prices to a record during that period, when stronger demand drove the increase.
Separately, a Department of Commerce rule published in the Federal Register requires certain lithium-ion battery scrap and tungsten waste to be sold domestically. The restriction began this month and will remain in effect for one year.
The materials are used in tank armor, weapons and engine components. The United States and other Western governments are seeking access to those raw materials, while China largely controls them and has reduced exports of some in recent years.
Industrial real-estate leasing activity also increased during the first half of 2026. The activity reached 27.1% above its level a year earlier, measured in square feet, according to Savills.