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Harsh winter weather and transport disruptions continued to affect the North American lumber market through February, leaving many buyers and sellers focused on tracking shipments already moving through the supply chain rather than placing new orders.<\/p>\n
Although rail cars and trucks gradually became more available during the month, deliveries continued to take longer than usual. Logistics remained the dominant concern for many market participants, with both suppliers and customers spending considerable time locating transport capacity and tracing delayed shipments.<\/p>\n
Supply in the market remained relatively limited, partly because buyers were reluctant to increase inventories. Builders and distributors kept stocks low, wary of holding material purchased at higher prices if the market were to weaken.<\/p>\n
Negotiations reflected the cautious tone. Buyers seeking competitive offers frequently responded with counter-bids, pressing sellers for better terms rather than committing quickly to new volumes.<\/p>\n
Price movements during the first two months of the year were comparatively stable, particularly when set against the volatility of the past two years. The price of Western Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) 2x4 #2&Btr KD (RL) stood at $466 per thousand board feet in the week ending February 27, unchanged from the previous week.<\/p>\n
That level was $25 lower than a month earlier, while remaining slightly higher than the price recorded in the same week last year and above levels seen two years ago.<\/p>\n
Market conditions varied across regions and product categories. Sellers of Western SPF in the United States increasingly pointed to limited volumes moving through the supply chain, with several industry sources highlighting tight Canadian supply.<\/p>\n
Availability also differed by grade. Lower-grade and industrial lumber was difficult to obtain, while mid- and higher-grade material was generally easier to source.<\/p>\n
Buyers of Canadian Western SPF continued to keep inventories tight as uncertainty about market direction persisted. In the eastern United States, demand for Eastern SPF weakened toward the end of February as heavy snowfall slowed construction activity.<\/p>\n
Sawmills in the eastern region were not aggressively seeking to move large volumes during the period, while transport disruptions made delivery schedules difficult to predict.<\/p>\n
In the southern market, demand for Southern Yellow Pine softened, resulting in growing inventories in sawmill and distributor yards. Even so, suppliers expect purchasing by wood treaters to increase as the spring construction season approaches.<\/p>\n
Wholesalers in the north-eastern United States, particularly in the tri-state area, cited the prolonged winter weather as a major factor affecting both deliveries and market activity.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n