Boise Cascade provided the following guidance: "As in recent years, we expect to continue to experience modest demand growth for the products we manufacture and distribute in 2018, with seasonally stronger sales volumes in the second and third quarters. The April 2018 Blue Chip consensus forecast for 2018 reflects 1.29 million total U.S. housing starts, an 8% expected increase from 2017 levels. We remain optimistic that the improvement in demand for our products will continue as household formation rates and residential construction continue to recover. Future commodity product pricing and commodity input costs could be volatile in response to industry operating rates, net import and export activity, the North American softwood lumber trade dispute, transportation constraints or disruptions, inventory levels in various distribution channels, and seasonal demand patterns. Furthermore, commodity product pricing is currently above historical levels. As a wholesale distributor of a broad mix of commodity products and a manufacturer of certain commodity products, we have sales and profitability exposure to declines in commodity product prices. We have successfully grown revenues and earnings in our distribution business as residential construction has recovered in the U.S. over the last several years. As we consider potential acquisitions, much of our activity is focused on adding to our distribution capabilities. We expect our capital spending, excluding acquisitions, to be $75-$85 million during 2018."
