The markets for Hardwood lumber are strong in the Southeast, despite the fact that businesses there cannot keep enough lumber on hand to satisfy their customers.
“It’s crazy,” observed a lumber supplier in Georgia. “Nobody has lumber. Everybody’s calling. It’s just crazy. There’s not anything that’s not moving well except for 1×8 Select Cypress.”
The market is “much better” than it was several months ago, he stated. “The problem is: it just creates a whole other set of problems. You have problems with containers, with the port, logistics problems getting things out of here.
“But domestically, things are wide open. Business is picking up strongly in China and Vietnam. Also, now you have Indonesia and Pakistan buying. The Middle East is doing well. Even Italy is back in the running.”
This lumberman sells to end users, distribution yards and exporters. “I don’t think the residential flooring business in China is overly strong,” he asserted. “But the truck flooring in China is really strong, as it is here in the U.S. It’s just kind of a mixed bag.
“People ask, ‘Why don’t you have lumber?’ It’s because prices got so cheap, COVID was an issue and tariffs were an issue. But the bottom line was: prices got so cheap that sawmills found other products they could manufacture. All your low-grade and some upper-grades went into crossties and crane mats. It takes about six to eight months to feel the impact of that business decision. You usually have lumber on the yard for four to six months. It takes a month to dry it and a month to ship it. We’ve worked everything out of inventory. And a lot of sawmills have been lost. The biggest reason now is: demand improved and cheap prices of lumber on the air dry yards disappeared as the market heated up.”
This lumber supplier handles Red and White Oak, Poplar, Cypress and Hickory.
Transportation, he said, is “an aggravation. It’s not a severe problem. It’s just a headache and an aggravation. We’re working through it and everything’s moving.” Another source in Georgia stated that business is “re ally good.” It’s “much better,” he observed, than it was six months earlier. The company has a mill in both Georgia and North Carolina. At the Georgia mill, species of lumber manufactured are primarily Red and White Oak, Ash and Poplar. At the North Carolina mill, the species include Red and White Oak, Ash, Soft Maple and Cherry. Poplar is the best seller for this firm. The lumber provider said not enough White Oak is manufactured “to even give you a legitimate barometer” of how well it’s selling.
Customers for this business include Hardwood distribution yards, end users and wholesalers. The firm sells lumber to domestic companies that, in turn, sell the product overseas. How well are his customers faring saleswise? “The only thing I have to judge that from is their buying,” he stated. “And they haven’t lightened up.”
Transportation isn’t a problem for this company. “The biggest thing,” the lumber source said, “is lack of supply.”
“The market’s fantastic, the best it’s been in a long, long time,” observed a lumberman in Kentucky. “Finally, there’s some optimism in the market. It should be a good year for lumbermen. However, I didn’t see COVID coming last year. We had a dandy January, February and part of March in 2020 and then everything just went to hell in a handbag very quickly. We’re coming out of it. The markets are opening back up.”
Compared to six months earlier, the market is “better,” the Kentucky lumberman said. “The problem is: I’m out of lumber. I’m completely sold out of everything, and we’re running woefully behind in production to catch up with sales. We had lowered our inventories last fall. I ended up overtaking my air-drying yard with my kilns. Now I’m trying to replenish my air-drying yard.
“I knew the prices would go up. I knew there was a very serious shortage of lumber coming – and will remain that way because of the attrition of so much production over the last several years. As an industry, we produce 5 billion board feet, and 10 years ago we produced 15 billion board feet. Obviously, that’s not enough lumber to meet this resurging global economy. And, thus, it’s pressuring prices tremendously in an upward manner. And there’s not a quick fix to these shortages.”
This Kentucky lumber source handles “pretty much every species of wood native to the Appalachian Mountains,” he stated. “The big three are Red Oak, White Oak and Poplar. I do a mix of Hard and Soft Maple, Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Basswood and Hickory. My market is great for any species. The markets for my customers are all very strong, including for distribution yards and end users. The markets for window blinds, shutters and furniture are very robust.
“Transportation is always a significant issue for us. We have our own trucks, so that gives us a cushion. For exports and the shipments to the West Coast, container congestion and port congestion are issues. Rates are increasing quickly on export containers. Trucking is always a problem.”
A Hardwood lumber provider in Virginia stated that the market is “good.” It’s “much, much, much, much better” than it was six months earlier she emphasized.
This company provides No. 3 Common and Better, mostly Red and White Oak, kiln-dried 4/4 and shipped green 8/4. The 8/4 goes to distribution yards. Most of the 4/4 goes overseas.
The lumber provider from Virginia said her customers’ business is good. “They can’t get enough of our lumber,” she noted. “We don’t have enough lumber right now to ship to everybody. I can’t keep all my customers happy.”
However, she commented, transportation is not a problem.
Meanwhile, a flooring executive in Arkansas said the market for his products is “strong. I can’t imagine someone telling you it wasn’t strong right now in the Hardwood industry, in the flooring or housing industry.” The market is better than it was six months earlier, he added.
He handles No. 2 and No. 3A Red and White Oak in 4/4. He sells to wholesale distributors. His customers’ businesses are going strong, he noted.
Transportation isn’t an issue for his firm, he stated. “It’s neutral. It’s better than what it was.”
