Hardwood Lumber Pricing & Supply

May 28 , 2010

What the heck is going on with hardwood lumber? We have seen supplies tighten, prices increase, and availability become sporadic. Who is impacted by this? Well, all of us are. Whether you are a manufacturer purchasing rough lumber, or a door shop selling hardwood stile and rail doors, or a retail dealer selling hardwood plywood, mouldings, cabinets... this has an effect on your business!

There are several key factors that we feel are adding to this market situation.

  • Limited access to credit
  • Continued mill closures
  • Poor logging conditions in certain parts of the country
  • Loggers exiting the business
  • Increased export of kiln dried lumber
  • Decreased supply of green lumber (which we expect to see continue and intensify until mid to late Summer) is resulting in increased prices for kiln dried lumber in most species and grades

The price increases we are seeing are predominantly supply driven; increased demand will likely result in more price volatility. Increases for the different species since the first of the year are noted here:

4/4 Prem. Frame Alder 27% 4/4 FAS Red Oak 25%
4/4 FAS White Oak  18% 4/4 FAS Walnut 14%
4/4 FAS Poplar 14% 4/4 S/B White Hard Maple 12%
4/4 FAS White Ash 9% 4/4 S/B Hickory 9%

Lumber Products is committed to maintaining the inventory required to keep you supplied. Our purchasing team is diligently working with our supplier partners to ensure that we are in stock; our history of long-standing, supportive supplier relationships positions us well to continue to meet your needs.

We will do our best to keep you posted on this situation through the LP sales team so that you can plan accordingly! If you would like to receive email updates about this situation and others affecting our industry, please send an email to ProductAlert@lumpro.com with the words ADD ME! in the subject line. We will add you to our product alert email list.

Thank you for your support!

The Lumber Products Team

The LP Product Alert system was developed to communicate current events that impact our industry. Some of these issues might include product limitations due to increased demand, reduced supply or natural disaster; product innovations, changes, or performance issues; government regulations and standards; or market volatility. If you are a member of the building products industry interested in receiving updates on pertinent industry and product news.

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Previous Alerts

March 24, 2010

May 28, 2010