Business Trends

Across the Lake States region sources that were contacted noted that while their sales were down overall from where they were six months that they continue to do OK. In Michigan a lumberman said that while his market is OK, it is not doing well. “We are doing worse than we were six months ago,” […]

Overall, at the time of this writing, lumber spokesmen in the Northeast have had similar responses on how the market is faring. In New York, a lumber sales representative commented that he would, “say it’s steady and the sales are actually still moving pretty good,” even though the market is “probably about even,” when compared […]

Many lumber market reviews reported by sources throughout the Southeast have an element of negativity. A lumber sales representative in Arkansas said that the market is “very soft” because “no one is really using hardwood right now” and that the market is worse than it was six months ago. They offer Gum, Red and White […]

Throughout the West Coast region, sources that were contacted at the time of this writing agreed that while their markets are steady, they are still slower than they would like to be. In California a lumberman said that his sales are order to order, with their market continuing at the same pace that it was […]

With the Thanksgiving holiday and hunting season coming up, production will see a slight slowdown, as is usual for this time of year. While the housing sector was doing better on the U.S. side compared to Canada who experienced a slowdown during August and September, business owners were optimistic that market conditions would improve over […]

Sawmill contacts commented that log supplies had improved recently. However, log decks were much lower than normal at this time for many of them. We are at a time when sawmills build their inventories ahead of wet fall weather and winter. Some are preparing while others are hesitant to build up log supplies due to […]

Sources that were contacted throughout the Lake States region were a mixed bag as one source said that his market was doing well, while the others said that they are having a harder time selling their products. In Wisconsin a lumber representative said that overall, his marketplace is doing well at the time of this […]

Opinions regarding the state of the forest products industry in the Northeast varied among industry professionals in the region. A representative from a distribution yard in Pennsylvania said that business in her area was spotty but that certain items were selling well. Conversely, sawmill representatives in both Maine and Maryland were less optimistic when asked […]

The reports on the hardwood lumber markets in the Southeast portray an element of negativity. A lumber spokesperson in Mississippi said that the market wasn’t doing well at the time of this writing and that it is worse than six months ago. They offer, “pretty much all species indigenous to the Southeastern and Eastern United […]

Forest products industry sources on the West Coast were consistent in how they viewed the state of the market in their region. Sources in California and Oregon said that business in their area was slow, but each commented that some weeks were better than others. In Washington, a lumber representative gave the market in his […]