Northeast Business Trends June 2026 – Mixed Market Reviews And Concerns About Overseas Production Bloom In The Northeast
While market reviews may be mixed, worry over production in Vietnam and the exportation of hardwood products to China and fuel costs is less mixed. Red and White Oak appear to be trending, in addition to Hickory despite the difficulty some have acquiring it.
A hardwood lumber source in West Virginia stated that the market is “not good because of the loss of manufacturing in this country and the selling of logs to the export market — especially the Hard and Soft Maple that we saw no longer having a manufacturing base here to sell it to. It’s not an item that is typically exported to Asia.”
Red and White Oak, Hard and Soft Maple, Hickory, Cherry and Poplar are the products offered. “I guess Red and White Oak would be our best sellers simply because there are still a few flooring manufacturers left in this country that buy it. 4/4 and 5/4 in the Oaks and whatever thickness we can muster for Poplar and the others” are what he said they cut.
Distribution and concentration yards as well as flooring and kitchen cabinet “manufacturers here and there,” in addition to one furniture manufacturer, are their clientele. “We used to have a lot of customers – a lot of opportunities for selling, which is why we were a 12 billion board feet industry at one time and now we are headed to three billion board feet. It’s a lot of lost jobs. My customers have shared concerns and they’re doing the same thing we are,” he added.
As for the fuel crisis, it is “impacting us the same way it is impacting everyone else,” he shared. “Regardless of the price of fuel, the price of lumber is down. So, we sell for less and pay more to get it there. It’s not a good formula. We can’t add the fuel surcharge – the price-per-gallon for diesel fuel increases — onto the consumer. We can’t ask the consumers to foot the bill for our increased rate, or their increased rate because they’re not buying it now. We’re going to have to see more attrition in this industry, unfortunately. I just hope it’s not among our customer base.
Maybe everyone is hoping to be the last standing, but it comes down to who has deep enough pockets, the will and who is resourceful enough.
If you can sell your lumber at a certain price, regardless of the price if you can move it, it’s a win. If you can’t sell it at any price, your days are numbered. We’re just scrambling trying to stay ahead of our sawmills. We’re only running two on one shift, not five mills with two shifts as we once did, and neither is anyone else — that’s why the industry is one-third the size it once was.”
Another concern the source shared was the increased production of lumber in Asia. “We’re offshoring a lot of logs. They’re producing a lot of lumber in Asia – lumber, we as an industry, once produced and shipped there. I think they’re producing upwards of a billion board feet or more in Vietnam right now. We disrupted the supply chains with the tariffs and reciprocal tariffs. The Chinese are very resourceful and said, ‘We’ll employ the Vietnamese to run some sawmills over there, so lumber can be produced and sent right back over the border. We’ll circumvent the North American hardwood market.’ It dampened lumber demand.”
Further north in Pennsylvania, the market is “fair” according to one representative, but they aren’t “going gang busters.” While he stated that the market has slowed compared to two months ago at the time of this writing, he was unable to determine whether it has improved since six months ago.
“We kind of do it all – Cherry, Poplar, Birch, Red Elm, Walnut, Red and White Oak, Hickory and Hard and Soft Maple in 4/4 through 8/4 mostly. Although, some species we don’t do thick stock in,” he shared.
While there was no “shining star” Hickory is moving well for them. “Other people are having a hard time getting their hands on it. It’s hard to find on the green side right now and not a lot of people are cutting it, especially as we get into the warmer months. Hickory is the last species that people want to saw because it is tough on machinery,” he explained.
They sell to distribution yards and manufacturers and have clients in China.
“Fuel costs rising are a concern for us and our customers. They’re constantly changing and, thankfully, most of our customers are accommodating with price fluctuation. Tariffs don’t make it easy, and Canada has a little bit more room for margins and something that is scary, is that a lot of logs are being exported to Vietnam and being dried and sawed there. Then, they are reexported to China.”
“I would say average because most of the stumpage is high and the price of lumber isn’t high enough – there’s not enough margin in the middle,” shared one lumber spokesman in New York when asked about the state of the market in his territory. It is also “close to the same” as it was six months ago.
In addition to Red Oak, which he stated is not “the most profitable but the one that moves the best,” they offer White Oak, Cherry and Hard and Soft Maple. 4/4, FAS and Nos. 1 through 3 Common are what they produce.
They export logs and sell to distribution yards, wholesalers and end users.
“We’re not struggling with fuel costs right now,” he commented. “Maybe I say that now because I haven’t seen a fuel bill yet. We’re not stable on labor — we have a problem with drivers and log buyers. I’ve had some folks retire in the last year and it’s hard to replace them. We don’t have much of an issue with the sawmill staffing – it seems to be pretty stable there.”
