Hardwood Price Increases Continue, But at Slower Pace
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Hardwood Price Increases Continue, But at Slower Pace Domestic and international hardwood buyers are pushing back harder against additional lumber price increases, but relief won’t come right away. Extreme cold and heavy precipitation continue to disrupt logging activity, sawmill operations, kiln productivity, and truck/container shipments, and the larger-than-normal snowpack will make spring breakup especially difficult this year.

That said, hardwood supplies won’t catch up with demand for at least another two to three months. Price increases will be smaller in the next 30 days than in the last 30 days—and much smaller in the 30 days after that, as some buyers fill up and the supply/demand gap starts to narrow.

Growing international demand for hardwoods, limited supplies from other parts of the world, and the U.S. dollar’s recent slide against a host of currencies will fuel additional growth in U.S. hardwood lumber exports.

Economic improvements in North America and Europe will lift demand for furniture and flooring manufactured in secondary Pacific Rim markets, and, in turn, hardwood shipments to those markets. U.S. imports of temperate hardwoods will increase as domestic hardwoods remain scarce and secondary manufacturers look for substitutes.

Hardwood Price Increases Continue, But at Slower Pace

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