Recently, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s President and CEO, Jonathan Paine, sent U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo a letter about the continued volatility of lumber prices. The letter also addressed the effects it is having on the LBM industry, residential construction, and the economy. The request for a meeting with Secretary Raimondo and her staff is addressed in the letter to discuss the impact lumber prices are having on LBM dealers. Remedies to the crisis were also to be discussed.
Lumber costs have nearly tripled and oriented strand board prices are up more than 250 percent since April of last year, according to Paine’s letter. Additionally, the National Association of Home Builders estimates these increases have caused the cost of building an average new single-family home to rise by more than $24,000.
The letter calls on the Department of Commerce to return to the negotiating table with Canada to enact a new Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) and to examine supply constraints as it relates to lumber production.
Learn more about the NLBMDA at www.dealer.org.
