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A Southeastern Spring Rife With Warmer Weather Market Wishes
Mixed reviews on labor situations and tariff confusion bloom in the spring season, which is still full of hope despite a lack of the usual uptick based on a history of softwood market behavior.
When asked about the market in his area, a spokesperson from an export mill in Louisiana said, “it’s okay but it’s not great. It seems to be picking up some. I’m not sure why. Maybe because everything was just so bad before that everything is picking up because people haven’t been buying.” For him, it is better than six months ago.
They offer Southern Yellow Pine in “export grades like SAP, Prime, Merch and all thicknesses such as 1-inch through 4-inch. The thicker material, such as the three-inch and 4-inch, are selling the best.”
Their main customers are importers.
He explained they are “mainly just waiting to see what happens regarding the tariffs. Most of the places that we export to already have tariffs on them, and they have tariffs on us. It’s just leveling the playing field.”
They are “always struggling with labor,” he added.
In Mississippi, one lumber representative noted that the market is “fair because of the spring season. We don’t see a lot of momentum right now, but it’s okay.” It is “about the same as six months ago.”
Southern Yellow Pine in 5/4 decking to 12×12 is what they handle. 4×4 and 6×6 are selling the best. The spokesperson assumes that the products they sell are “going to be used as fencing products.”
Their customers are all treaters. They do some exporting. “Usually,” he said, “we have a push during the spring, but we aren’t seeing that right now. I don’t think tariffs have anything to do with it but the overall economy, interest rates and uncertainty.”
While he believes that the tariffs “will have some effect on the market,” he doesn’t “know that it is going to be as much as they’re trying to play it up. That’s going to be affected by the dimension market, not the stuff that we do.”
The only complaint he has is about the lack of “push right now.”
The market is “good” according to a lumber spokesperson in Alabama and “better than six months ago.”
A lumber representative commented that they typically have a push during the spring but aren’t seeing that at the time of this writing.
They “only do Southern Yellow Pine in a 2×4, 2×6 and 4×4 in addition to a lot of PET material with the 2×4 and 2×6. We also do a Prime grade and No. 1 Common. We have No.1., No. 2, No. 3 and No.4 Common, but the No. 3 and No. 4 Common are under contract and so are the widths. PET material, the 2×4 and 2×6, are selling the best and it goes to builders. It saves them some time if they get the material pre-cut and they don’t mind paying extra to get that done. The PET material really helps us out. I would estimate 60 percent of our production goes into PET material.”
They sell to treaters, truss manufacturers and industrial accounts. They sell the least to wholesalers. “Most of my customers seem to think that it is a lot better than it was last year,” she explained. “They call me begging for stuff that I don’t have. It’s getting harder for them to find what they need but they’re busy. I wish I could sell more than what I do. A lot of them say people are booked out three to four weeks on their materials, so if they need something next week, they’re having to wait for it.”
She explained that they don’t export their lumber because there are too many “claims on it because they put it on a ship, and it stays on there for weeks on end and all that moisture creates mold on the lumber. Then, they want to make claims.”
Transportation is the opposite of an issue for them. “Truckers are hauling out of here all the time and we’ve got so many that we can’t take on anymore new ones,” she said. At the time of this writing, they have a “pretty good labor crew but there are some that we hire who work a week or two then quit. It’s no major issue.”
