Business Trends

As the industry moves into early fall, businesses are still facing many challenges to reach a profit. The housing shortage on both sides of the border, lower demand for hardwood lumber and finished goods at a low, the loss of market share due to other materials and imported goods and other species native to those […]

With summer behind us, and the Labor Day holiday over, businesses are slowly gearing up for the fall and winter seasons. Businesses are planning their purchasing schedules in advance for their anticipated production needs. With demand being down for hardwood finished goods, they must be vigilant and creative to stay in business and make a […]

Throughout the Lake States region, sources that were contacted said that their sales were doing well, at the time of this writing, and that they were able to steadily move their products. In Wisconsin, a lumberman said that overall, his business “is doing a little better than we were six months ago,” he noted, attributing […]

Sources working in the forest products industry in the Northeast said their market has been consistent but limited in terms of growth. One contact said the market in his state is “flat”, while another referred to the volume of his business as “medium” and a third contact, the owner of a wholesale distribution yard in […]

Hardwood suppliers in the Southeast region have varied reports on the market at the time of this writing and most of these reports are less than optimistic. A lumberman in Mississippi said that it is very slow and worse than six months ago because “there’s just no demand for Hardwood lumber.” His company deals in […]

Sources on the West Coast reported that business in their region is steady but acknowledged that there is some market insecurity and that present factors could drive the market up or down over the remainder of the year. In reference to the current state of his market, a representative from a lumber distributor in Oregon […]

As we ended summer, Hardwood production continued to edge down. The summer vacation period was a factor in this reduction, as is the changing trend in finished products purchased by consumers, and the use of composite wood and non-wood products for furniture, cabinets, flooring, and mouldings and millwork. Contacts noted that Ash prices had increased […]

As the summer period saw heavy rainfall in many areas, sawmill production was reduced due to poorer logging conditions in certain areas. According to published statistics the June 2024 period production rate was at its lowest since May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sawmill contacts comment Ash sales for No. 1 Common and Better grades […]

Throughout the Lake States region, sources that were contacted said that their sales were doing well, at the time of this writing, and that they were able to steadily move their products. In Wisconsin, a lumberman said that overall, his business “is doing a little better than we were six months ago,” he noted, attributing […]

Sources working in the forest products industry in the Northeast said their market has been consistent but limited in terms of growth. One contact said the market in his state is “flat”, while another referred to the volume of his business as “medium” and a third contact, the owner of a wholesale distribution yard in […]