The Softwood Forest Products Buyer - March/April 2024

INLAND WEST TRENDS - Continued from page 55
“Nothing too crazy,” he said. “But we are optimistic about the Spring.”
A lumber spokesperson in Arizona noted that his sales and marketplace are
doing well. “There is demand and customer interest in the products that we have
started to develop, especially with the relatively new mill that we are bringing
online.”
His company offers Ponderosa Pine in 1-and-2-inch thicknesses and in Select
grades, as well as Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Common. “We are also able to offer some
proprietary grades, such as, premium fascia, stock Fir, thermal modification, lam
stock and pattern stock,” he noted.
He sells to distribution and lumber yards, industrial manufacturers and big box
stores. He mentioned that his customers seem to be optimistic as they are watching
their sales move in the right direction, at the time of this writing.
“We envision that the market will continue to stay steady and start to raise over
the next six months,” he added. •
MIDWEST TRENDS - Continued from page 24
A lumberman in Iowa said that while his market is strong right now, it isn’t doing
as well as it was six months ago.
“We carry mainly Pine and some Cedar,” he remarked. They offer these species
in Common grades, No. 2 and Better and some Clear, and in 1x and 5/4 thickness.
“We sell to a mixture of customers, some Do-It-Yourselfers and to the contractor
base,” he said. “The contractors are all busy right now and they are booking
themselves up.”
When asked how he thinks the market is going to look over the next several
months, he said, “I am hoping that the market stays strong; we are optimistic that
it will. With the amount of quoting that we have done recently it seems to be an
indication that we have a good opportunity for that to be the case.”
In Texas a lumberwoman said that her sales have been firming up, but expects
that as the weather changes, with more rain expected, that there will be another
lull in her sales. She did note that her sales are worse than they were six months
ago but accredits this to the time of the year.
Her company offers Southern Yellow Pine in grades Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Common
and in a MSR2400, all in 2x4.
She noted that she is currently selling to builders, treaters, wholesalers and pallet
manufacturers. “It feels like we are getting back into the pre-COVID market.
The wholesalers that I sell to have the same billing and a lot of my sales representatives
feel like they have a pretty good spring coming, which is helpful.” •
WEST COAST TRENDS - Continued from page 24
in most of our products. Prices have been soft and at times it has been difficult
to even find a number that a customer will buy lumber at. There definitely hasn’t
been any real urgency for customers to find volume for current needs or for spring
buys yet. Customers seem to think that the current slow pace in the market will
be short lived as builders start to ramp up more for spring. Even with a slow start
to the year, I think customers are still optimistic that the 2nd and 3rd quarters
could prove to be better than what we saw last year. I am hopeful for us that Cedar
markets will improve and there will be increased demand, and that Cedar will be
needed more this year than last. Prices have settled down to a point that I think
they are easier to digest at the consumer level.” In regard to challenges C&D are
facing Southwick said, “I think the weather has played a large factor in keeping
demand stifled. Ice storms in the Pacific Northwest and flooding in California
have hampered sales and shipments for us. Transportation costs have remained
stable, and it is easy to book trucks, which is helpful because when a customer
places an order they typically want to pick it up quickly.”
Mark Gray of Patrick Lumber, Portland, OR said, “Overall, lumber supply is
still tight. Each species has its own story, but I don’t think anyone is swimming in
wood. We are seeing prices stay consistent and firm.” Gray continued, “Weather
issues on the West Coast has slowed activity – ice, snow and heavy rains have all
contributed to slowing business, as well as a tight supply on logs. Nothing has
really changed from prior months. High-grade logs are still hard to come by (both
in the U.S.A. and in British Columbia). Logging volumes usually quiet down in
the winter as well (which it has). We’re not experiencing any labor challenges at
the moment, but we’re only running one shift.” •
SOUTHEAST TRENDS - Continued from page 26
antly surprised.”
A lumber representative in Mississippi said that his sales and market have been
a little soft. “It doesn’t seem like the overall demand in the market is keeping up
with production.” He believes that he is slower than he was six months ago, which
he said is due to a number of factors including the wetter winter and the economy
at large.
His company offers Southern Yellow Pine mainly in 2x4-2x6’s and in grades
No. 2 and Better and the lower grades.
He said that he sells into the building markets. “Some of the builders seem to
be fairly steady and I think that we are seeing a slow-down in the treating market,
which mainly goes into the retail lumber market.”
He mentioned that he hopes that the interest rates go down over the next several
months so that people will have more money in their pockets to build single-family
homes and to spend more at the retail lumber stores.
In Louisiana a lumber spokesperson said that their Softwood products are sold
offshore and they have noticed that these markets have continued to remain slow.
“We have seen a significant contraction in the last 90 days, about 35 percent.”
He noted that this contraction is an indication that they are doing worse than they
were six months ago.
His company handles Southern Yellow Pine in all grades and all thicknesses. “I
always tell people, ‘We do everything from the saps to the craps.’”
He said that he sells direct to some end-users, factories and distribution yards.
“We have gotten a lot of comments lately about how our customers’ businesses
have slowed down, and it is evident with them paying their bills late.”
He mentioned that he believes that the market is over saturated with Southern
Yellow Pine and this will not be corrected until mills begin to curtail production
and take some of the older less efficient mills offline. •
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