Vice President
Spruce-Pine-Fir, Douglas Fir, and Western Red Cedar are the species that he markets, in No. 2 and Better in 2×4 through 2×12. “As far as framing lumber goes, Green Douglas Fir is doing good. Engineered wood is doing okay but not great,” he added.
He mostly sells to pro-dealers and retail lumber yards. “Multi family business seems to be a little better than the single family. I think nationwide, certainly in our market in the Midwest, housing starts are going to be down but that is what we were expecting them to do.”
Labor is still an issue for him, particularly in the material handling and warehouse work positions.
According to one South Dakota lumber representative, their business has been experiencing consistent conditions, adding that it’s about the same as it was several months ago.
“Yeah, it’s steady. I would say it’s been busy. It’s still taking a long time to get supplies in. We are a few weeks behind on some orders just waiting to get in everything we need,” he added.
His company offers SPF, Hem Fir, and Cedar in No. 2 and No. 2 Premium. He offers Hem Fir in Select Struct and Cedar in Tight Knot or Appearance grade.
His primary customer base consists of distribution yards and when asked how their business was doing, he said that was a mixed bag. “Some say they are busy; some say they are steady, and some say they are slow. But with the heat we had I know a lot of them had to slow down just from that.”
One Texas lumber supplier again used the word “steady” to initially describe how his market was doing and shared that his business has been having some good months. “We probably just had our best July ever,” he commented.
“We are okay. Seems like it’s gone back to a seasonal situation. It usually slows down this time of the year but for the most part it seems like it’s going back to normal seasonal sales. We topped some of last year’s numbers which we didn’t think we would. Honestly, we haven’t had much inflation on the material. Our drop on the cost of the material has flat lined since covid but you still get increased prices with gas prices and labor issues.”
He handles green and kiln-dried Douglas Fir No.1 and Better and Western Red Cedar Standard and Better in 4×6 to 20×20. As for what species is selling best for him, he commented, “Douglas Fir is our best seller for sure.”
Selling mostly to retail lumber yards working with custom orders, he said that their activity has been similar to his.
“It’s trending back to a normal seasonal type of sales situation which we haven’t seen in three or four years. A lot of our customers have a positive outlook.”
When it came to his labor or any other outside factors in the market affecting him, he said that he had nothing significant he could think of. He did add that the weather has been so hot that some yards won’t have any workers outside past 2 p.m.
