TIMBER PRODUCTS January 2018 HT News Volume: 01/04/2018

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Lumber Demand & Prices Remain High 

"Lumber consumption in the US has remained strong and steady throughout most of 2017—a sign that the housing market is healthy enough to create sustainable demand. While US lumber production has increased roughly 3 percent year-over-year (YoY), the only region in North America that has experienced a decrease in lumber production in 2017 is British Columbia, which is primarily due to destructive summer wildfires and a surplus of dead and rotting timber in the forest.

As lumber markets have strengthened, the growth in demand in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) has shifted entirely to available timber from private forest lands, which are already nearing sustainable long-term harvest levels. This is a boon for landowners and loggers, as mill buyers struggle to capture the measure of supply demanded by their facilities. This situation will likely continue well into 2018, and at least as long as lumber prices hold at current levels.

As a result of these factors, Doug fir log prices are at much higher sustained levels than they have been at any time in recent years; in October, the weighted average price for delivered domestic logs was $772/MBF.

In the US South, southern yellow pine (SYP) lumber prices have also remained elevated in part due to the busy hurricane season. Forest2Market’s composite southern yellow pine lumber price for week 47 was at $415/mbf, which is up 10.4 percent over the same period last year."

Courtesy of John Greene, Forest2Market