(Editor: Leona) While softwood lumber prices have declined this fall from their peak level this past summer -- soft yellow pine garnered the largest price decrease -- indexes still show the market at its highest point in 10 years, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ).

Strong demand for softwood lumber has increased the price of exports to Northern Europe and China. Lumber demand worldwide has vastly increased since the Great Recession. WRQ says global lumber shipments in 2014 are on pace to reach its highest level since 2007.

Other Softwood Lumber Developments

With the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the U.S. and Canada set to expire in October 2015, the U.S. Lumber Coalition, which represents U.S. softwood lumber producers including Georgia Pacific and Weyerhauser, opposes renewal or expansion of the current agreement.

The organization's executive director Zoltan van Heyningen told "Random Lengths" that shifting cost factors and the rise of exports to China has created inequity in the market. The group indicated that it would be open to filing a new countervailing lawsuit at a future date.

Meanwhile, in enforcing the previous agreement negotiated in 2006 and extended in 2012, the U.S. sued Canadian softwood lumber companies Scierie Nord-Sud Inc. and Les Produits Forestiers Forexam (now out of business) for misidentifying approximately $3.8 million in softwood imports as hardwood, according to Law360.com. The companies avoided approximately $675,000 in duties. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking as much as $1,548,506 in damages.