palletcentral

May-June 2015

Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/522141

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 18 of 47

palletcentral.com PalletCentral • May-June 2015 19 March, that had declined to 800—a whopping 50% decline. (An aside: clearly this is good news for pallet producers, since it has led to a sharp drop in demand for hardwoods used in roads and rig mats.) These events will not affect growth later in 2015. I remain very positive on overall growth later in the year. Will the Slower Growth Affect Timing of Interest Rate Hike? The quick answer is: maybe. As mentioned in the last update, the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start boosting interest rates in 2015. At the NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference in March, I talked about the subtle messages the Fed provides the financial markets as to when interest rates will start going up and how high they might go by 2018. This is the hottest topic in all of the financial newspapers and magazines. In March, their announcement indicated that interest rates might start going up as early as June. But slower growth and the most recent employment report, which was not as good as expected, could push the first interest rate hike out to September (the odds on favorite right now). There are two other reasons the Fed will remain cautious. First, the decline in oil prices plus the strength of the U.S. dollar has Weaker demand for hardwood lumber by the energy industr y should keep hardwood lumber prices in check. 123rf.com/Visions of America, LLC

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of palletcentral - May-June 2015