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After a long series of up and down reversals, North American lumber prices are in a cooling period. As of early March, spot lumber prices have moved forward into the past \u2014 last reported at $370 per thousand board feet.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a major tumble since January when prices were up 14% over the close of 2022. Sherwood Lumber reported that the \u201cindustry could actually find itself in an undersupplied market during the height of the building season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is an example of why trying to follow markets point-by-point can be a frustrating experience. The days of pricier lumber may be over and most products would probably never be at pre-Covid prices again.<\/p>\n
That seems odd, given how far prices are down. But it may not be an isolated view.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am hearing that a lot of builders are not seeing reported drops in wholesale pricing relative to what they are seeing from people they buy from,\u201d Ashley Boeckholt, chief revenue officer of MaterialsXChange says. \u201cOur suggestion would be to go out and ask more vendors for pricing and then arm yourselves with data to ask for better pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question may not be one of raw pricing but the ability to demand more money and keep the profits. \u201cThe reason for much of the consolidation of building industry participants over the years was to create pricing power,\u201d Boeckholt added.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the other core items may still be high, but we are hearing many of those are also starting to loosen up,\u201d he says. \u201cHigher interest rates along with uncertainty can do this to pricing \u2014 and loosen up once tight items.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for pre-pandemic pricing levels, Boeckholt said not to be certain. \u201cMarkets always do what causes the most pain, and none of us are ever smart enough to strap on a surgery mask and pick exact prices,\u201d he says. \u201cThe lower prices go we will see a production response from lumber producers, but I am always amazed at how long they can run \u2014 and how low the price can go \u2014 before it happens. This is the reality of me being in this market my entire life.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a long series of up and down reversals, North American lumber prices are in a cooling period. As of early March, spot lumber prices have moved forward into the past \u2014 last reported at $370 per thousand board feet. … Continue reading