Northeast Business Trends
Improvements In The Northeastern Softwood Market
By Cadance Johnson
Associate Editor
While spring demand has increased, softwood lumber representatives shared that the rising fuel and electrical prices and lack of available, as well as experienced labor, are causing a challenge to celebration.
“Pretty strong,” is the rating a New Hampshire softwood lumber source that also handles specialty lumber gave the current marketplace.
Compared to the last six months, the market is better. When asked about the reason behind the improvement, he stated, “I think the demand has just gone up and that the overall tariffs that are happening are driving up the prices. People also haven’t bought much in so long that maybe they are just getting desperate.”
Eastern White Pine and Eastern Hemlock are what they offer. Both are “pretty even sales-wise, but Hemlock is probably more popular. We deal in Premium grade to Select grade 4/4 through 16/4,” he added.
Contractors and homeowners are their main customer base, but their thicker stock is sold to timber framers or carpenters. “We have a wide customer base. I think everybody is concerned about everything that is going on in the world. I don’t know if it has to do specifically with the market itself, but nobody feels great about it,” he stated.
As for the rise in fuel prices, he commented, “We don’t have our own trucks, so it doesn’t affect us a whole lot. Obviously, we have fuel for machinery but with prices being high, we might not get certain orders if trucking is going to be too much.”
They are “doing all right” with labor but “it is hard to find salespeople. I’m usually more running the company instead of doing sales but we’re down some salespeople, so I’m answering the phones.”
In New York, the market is, at the time of this writing, “Fairly strong. Demand has increased and I have just been enjoying that over the last month / month and a half.” It is better than six months ago.
Rising fuel and electrical costs are a cause for concern.
Eastern White Pine in “4/4 through 8/4 Industrial through Select,” is what he said they offer. Select is their bestseller.
They sell directly to manufacturers and distribution yards. His customers have shared feelings of uneasiness about rising fuel and electric prices. “We’re having no problem lining up trucks, it’s just at a much higher rate,” he noted.
According to a lumber representative connected to sawmills in Maine and Canada, the market is “firm and really tight in our area in the U.S. The fuel surcharge is 70 or 80 percent of the cost and we have to add that on. Supply and demand are in balance enough to where even despite the macroeconomic issues going on in the world, people are staying cautious, but they still need wood.”
The market, at the time of this writing, has “firmed up” over the last “four weeks. Typically, it goes down this time of year. I think people were so cautious, they were late doing their spring buy.”
Spruce-Pine-Fir is what they sell. “We do a Premium grade, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Common and Economy. We do all those grades – 2 x 4 and 2 x 6. As for our best seller, it’s all firm and strong but if I had to pick one, I’d say 2 x 4, 9-foot picked up recently.” A sizeable amount of their products are sold to the Boston market.
“It’s always difficult to find people and (labor is) probably a little tighter than normal,” he added.
He predicted that the seemingly “good, solid market” will continue in the short-term. “If interest rates can stay somewhat down, it seems like there is enough demand that the situation should stay around these levels,” he shared.
