Across the West Coast, lumber providers that were contacted agreed that they are doing well with their domestic business. One source stated that his business is better than it was six months ago. Another source agreed, adding that this could be due in part to a lack of supply.
In Southern California, a lumberman said that his sales have continued to be steady over the past six months. “It seems as though jobs are starting to come due and everyone that was waiting to place their orders have started doing so,” he added. “Last month we had a lot of quotes come in and this month we are filling a lot of orders.”
His company offers Hickory, White Oak and Walnut in 4/4 thickness and grades FAS and Nos. 1 and 2 Common. “White Oak continues to be my best seller,” he noted.
He sells to end users, such as flooring companies and distributors. “All of my customers seem to be following the status quo. They aren’t necessarily setting the world on fire, but they are doing alright. They may actually be doing better than they were six months ago,” he said.
When asked if his company is involved with any imports or exports, he said, “We only sell domestically so we are doing okay at this point. The domestic market seems to me to be getting busier, which is a good sign.”
A lumberman whose company is based in Oregon, noted that their domestic sales have picked up over the last month. “We have seen the distributors and manufacturers that we sell to have not only increased their orders, but their frequency as well.”
He noted that when it comes to their domestic sales, they are doing better than they were six months ago. “We have noticed an uptick in demand in the domestic markets, as well as a shortage of supply over what we were seeing going into the marketplace six months ago.”
His company offers Hard and Soft Maple, Cherry and Red Oak in all upper grades and in thicknesses of 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4. “Soft Maple is selling very well right now,” he said when asked which specie was selling best for him. “If I had 10 loads of Soft Maple with me when I was at the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association meeting, I would have sold it all then.”
While uncertainty consumes the import and export markets, sources agree that their domestic sales were doing well.
He sells to furniture, flooring, cabinet and millwork manufacturers. “My cabinet customers have seen a slight improvement recently in their sales. The residential flooring companies that I sell to seem to be doing better, as well as my millwork customers,” he remarked.
“We are facing a big challenge with the tariffs, as we ship a fair amount of lumber into China, especially Cherry, which is our predominant specie,” he said. “We will just have to wait and see how everything will play out, especially since we know that this is a very fluid situation.”
A lumber spokesman in Northern California said that his company’s sales have remained strong. “Our business has not wavered over the past six months,” he said when asked how his company was doing compared to six months ago.
His company sells Mahogany, Red and White Oak, Maple, Cherry, Walnut, Alder, Birch and Poplar in FAS and in thicknesses of 4/4 through 8/4. “Rift White Oak continues to be our best seller,” he noted, when asked if there was one species that was selling better for him. He did mention that, at the time of this writing, they were not having any issues with importing Mahogany.
He sells to a variety of end users. “All of our customers seem to still be doing well,” he said. “This is likely why we are still doing as well as we are.” He did note that while his customers do have concerns about the tariffs, it hasn’t impacted their orders yet.
“We are receiving calls and emails on a regular basis from people asking us if we know how the tariffs will impact our pricing,” he said. “We are hearing that pricing likely will increase, but so far it is impacting other aspects of our business more so than the lumber right now.”
