The Softwood Lumber Industry Desires A Brighter 2026
Based on the reports from various regions, domestic and international, the overall consensus for 2025 was that transportation was not an issue but dealing with decreased demand, a challenging housing market, costs and troubling tariffs were more than enough. There was division amongst the sources regarding whether their labor force was stable. New products, installations, upgrades and careful planning ignited a bit of hope for 2026.
Matt Duprey
Hancock Lumber Co.
Casco, ME
Established in 1848, Hancock Lumber is a seventh-generation, family-owned integrated forest products company. Our business is diverse—we operate high-efficiency White Pine sawmills, a network of lumberyards, truss and wall panel manufacturing facilities, full-service kitchen design showrooms and a robust e-commerce shopping and online account management platform.
When looking at 2025 across the entire company, it was a successful year. Our three Eastern White Pine mills were challenged the most having to deal with lower demand in the marketplace, increased raw material costs, cost pressure across the board and micro/macro-economic turbulence. Stability in the markets, consistent raw material costs and flow to the mills and higher demand — while controlling the variables we can control —will be key to having a successful 2026.
Our diverse customer base falls under several categories: direct to retail through our 12 lumberyards, wholesale distribution partners, manufacturers using Eastern White Pine, buying groups and wholesale brokers. The strongest product categories for us were in pattern stock programs, high-grade lumber, specialty products and proprietary grade/tally programs.
In 2025, our focus for new products/services centered around specialty/value added products. Our Hancock Pro Finish department has expanded and grown, bringing in-house primed and pre-stained Eastern White Pine boards to our customers. Additionally, we brought on an end match machine, an additional shrink-wrap machine, developed new patterns and produced new texture finishes.
Focusing on what our customers’ needs were, we added to our value-added processing in 2025. We added more sanding capabilities on our paint and stain lines. The Casco Sawmill also upgraded their debarker with a newer, totally rebuilt Nicholson & Cates 36” ring. Many smaller capital projects improved safety, while increasing efficiencies. We also upgraded software for our Bethel edger.
Team Hancock is passionate about our people-first and values driven culture. Right now, our Eastern White Pine mills are staffed adequately, and our culture helps attract good people applying to fill open roles. Additionally, retention has improved this year. Our attention is on attracting and hiring good people, having effective onboarding processes, and training each person for their role. Additionally, a mentor is assigned to each employee during early stages of employment to make sure they are comfortable, trained appropriately, and understand that safety is the top priority. Plus, there is the added benefit of providing them with a co-worker they can establish a relationship with—a person they can go-to with any questions or issues.
Transportation was consistent most of 2025. For the time being, I believe the capacity is there — our needs have been met for getting product into our customers’ markets consistently on time. Overseas transportation has been up and down, especially the costs of getting to markets. It seems that price changes are always in the mix, so it does make it hard to predict total cost.
We do export, and the markets we serve have no tariffs at the moment.
Lacy Townsend
RoyOMartin
Alexandria, LA
While pricing levels haven’t been ideal, 2025 has been a successful year by many other measures. We’re closing the year with a strong safety record, reliable mill performance, and continued investment in our people, sustainable operations and infrastructure. After more than a century in business, RoyOMartin has weathered numerous market cycles. We’re confident we’ll do the same with this one, emerging stronger than ever while continuing to deliver the world-class service and quality our customers have come to rely on.
As a wholesale commodity panel producer, our customer base spans the entire U.S. and beyond, primarily serving distributors, but ultimately serving builders and industrial manufacturers. In 2025, our OSB and plywood panels remained strong performers, driven by their consistency, quality and reliability in our diverse markets. Our value-added product lines, such as Eclipse® OSB radiant barrier and TuffStrand-WRB™ structural panels, also continued to gain traction with builders seeking durable, efficient and sustainable solutions.
We were proud to reintroduce our weather-resistant barrier system, TuffStrand-WRB, to the market in 2025. The product combines our trusted, durable TuffStrand® panel with a factory-applied weather-resistant barrier and proprietary seam tape. This tape-and-panel system eliminates the need for traditional housewrap, provides a tighter building envelope and reduces labor costs delivering efficiency and quality builders can depend on.
One of our most significant projects was the installation of a new Dieffenbacher press at our Oakdale, LA, OSB mill. The upgrade replaced an original press that had exceeded its useful life and has already improved uptime and production efficiency. Beyond Oakdale, we continue to invest in new technology across all our facilities, enhancing reliability, safety and sustainability for our team members and customers alike.
Like many manufacturers, we’re always seeking reliable, dedicated talent across all locations. Our Human Resources and Talent & Engagement teams have taken a proactive approach, expanding outreach, refining onboarding and strengthening career-development initiatives. These efforts not only help us attract new team members but also retain and grow the exceptional workforce that continues to drive RoyOMartin’s innovation and success.
At this time, no issues regarding transportation/shipping are experienced domestically. Both truck and rail appear to be fluid currently. We have no issues to note on international shipments themselves, but the customs and security compliance procedures have added additional complexity to complete these shipments. In some cases, these are related to the tariffs now in place.
Nancy Tuck
Gates Milling
Gates County, NC
With all the challenges we experienced in 2024, we have managed to successfully transition to the market’s current demands and have a profitable 2025.
Selects grade demand has stayed strong, while the No. 2 Common grade struggled in the beginning of the year and rebounded some in the 3rd quarter.
We continue to listen carefully to our customers changing demands and have invested in upgrades in our mill to help achieve the higher demand for upper grades.
We installed a McDonough 3 Saw Optifit Edger that is proving to be a great investment.
Labor continues to be a struggle. Key positions don’t turn over often, but labor/line positions turn over routinely.
Transportation/shipping, both domestically and international, have not been an issue for us.
We are concentrated heavily in domestic markets; however, our Canadian friends have slowed their purchases during the uncertainty of tariffs.
Alden Robbins
Robbins Lumber Inc.
Searsmont, ME
I would define 2025 as successful because we were able to make the necessary changes quick enough to adjust to the reduced demand that we have experienced so far in 2025. We were hoping for the best but prepared for the worst as the saying goes. We got costs in line, reined in overtime, watched efficiencies and were able to capitalize on gains that investments in previous years had brought us.
We are making some capital investments in Q1 of 2026, which should set us up to compete better, but we need a stable monetary policy and an improved interest rate to help get housing moving in the right direction again. I worry that if the predicted loss of white-collar jobs due to AI starts to materialize, we will reduce the size of the population who can afford to build or buy a home, which is already shrinking due to the costs of housing today.
Local, independent retail yards within our state and wholesale distribution companies outside our state are the categories our customers fall under. I would say our value-added products were the strongest sellers this year, continuing the trend of solving the problem of labor availability on the job site.
We introduced no new products or services to customers in 2025.
There were no major expenditures in 2025 regarding equipment installations. After a couple of years of strong cap ex investment, we took a bit of a breather this year. Big year coming in 2026 though.
Filling starting positions is still quite difficult. We are using employment service companies and some re-entry labor to help staff our facilities.
Freight availability seems very good this year, which is reflecting what is going on in the greater economy.
It was the first year we had to deal with tariffs going into Canada, and it definitely affected business. I am hoping we can get a trade deal settled with Canada that is fair to both sides.
Dean Garofano
Delta Forestry Group
Pitt Meadows, BC
Overall, 2025 was a successful year for Delta Forestry Group although the last quarter was much more challenging.
Our customers are primarily wholesale distributors.
We completed a new, north end trim station that leads into our automated Raptor trim line and bin sorter at our Halo sawmill facility.
Having enough employees is not currently an issue for us.
We are experiencing no transportation/shipping issues.
The current combination of countervailing duties and tariffs on lumber are extremely prohibitive, making it difficult to operate consistently. The lack of certainty from on and off again tariffs and retroactive administration reviews decisions have created panic and uncertainty. This type of environment is something businesses do not deal with well.
Patrick Goodfellow
Goodfellow Inc.
Delson, QC
Goodfellow had varying success in 2025. The ever-changing tariff situation slowed demand and impacted prices, but because of our diverse offerings, there were bright spots which we expect to build on in 2026.
Goodfellow’s customers belong to residential, commercial and industrial sectors, domestically and internationally, and our diversity across various categories meant that there were no standout product categories.
Goodfellow brought online three, new hardwood dry-kiln facilities in 2025 – two sites in West Virginia and one in Pennsylvania. This has greatly increased our capacity and service capabilities in the U.S.
In Delson, QC, Goodfellow installed a new building and automated stacker/grader. This will greatly increase service levels and decrease lead times for customers.
With a high number of employees with over 25 years of service, Goodfellow faces a certain number of retirements each year. We are focused on mentoring internal talent to eventually succeed those retirees, as well as recruiting the next generation of young people into our business.
While no new transportation or logistics issues were faced in 2025, costs related to bringing wood products to market or to job sites continue to be a challenge all along the supply chain.
Goodfellow has resilient platforms in order to export from Canada and the U.S. to meet international demand. While Goodfellow favors trade without barriers, disputes and tariffs, it will continue to navigate these circumstances leveraging its flexible business operations. Our concerns reflect those of our brothers in the industry — less trade obstacles are better for business.
