The vast majority of surveyed North American exporters and foreign buyers reported very limited North American hardwood trade in June as elevated inventories push prices down.
Many sawmills and concentration yards are now planning to shut down during the week of July 4th, some for the first time ever. A contact at one such yard said, “With a lot of other companies closing for a week or two, we would get buried with lumber if we have our doors open.”
BCH Trading sells Southern yellow pine and American hardwoods to buyers around the world. It relies on the Federal Export-Import Bank to guarantee buyer loans. But the Bank will close in June 30 unless Congress see beyond a narrow ideological divide on the matter.