Northeast Business Trends 2025 – Summer Sales Mediocrity And Domestic Optimism
Hardwood lumber sources across the Northeast recently reported their highest sales in either Red or White Oak but, at the time of this writing, their markets are not performing better than they did in the past six months. While they have shared their concerns about the outcome of the trade issues between the United States and China specifically, many of them, despite the uncertainty, believe that the domestic market will remain stable and they will simply export to other countries.
At the time of this writing, one lumber source from New York commented that the market in his area is “not hot or cold” and that it is worse than six months ago.
They handle Red and White Oak in FAS & Better, No. 1 Common, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4. Even though they sell “more Red than White Oak,” both species “sell equally because we don’t have anything backing up at this point,” he said.
“When there was a break there for 40 days, we carried on. China takes a lot of our Cherry and Red Oak and we just kind of stayed away from it and aggressively went after the material that moves”
Their customers consist of distribution yards, wholesale lumber companies and moulding and millwork businesses. When asked about his customers’ thoughts about the marketplace at the time of this writing, he said that his Chinese customers are “just waiting to see what is going to happen but they are not placing any orders, so that tells me they don’t have a lot of hope. I just quit worrying about it. We produce the items, and sell them all somewhere.”
While he didn’t share any specific concern for the path of his company, he stated that the “businesses that are in trouble right now are the ones that are in heavy debt.”
In Connecticut, a lumber representative said they had a “really strong first half of the year but July kind of came to a screeching halt. I think it is because everybody is on vacation.”
It is “probably the same” as six months ago and while they are not “setting records or anything,” they are “doing the same level of business. It is stable.”
As for their inventory, they market “anything and everything” in 4/4 through 12/4. In addition to working with “all domestic species and grades,” they offer some tropical species, too. Soft White Maple in FAS is their best seller with Red Oak FAS in second place and Poplar FAS in third.
The company has customers in China and are “pretty diversified in where we take our products,” so they are “not as concerned” about the trade issues. “When there was a break there for 40 days, we carried on. China takes a lot of our Cherry and Red Oak and we just kind of stayed away from it and aggressively went after the material that moves,” he explained.
They sell to millwork companies, cabinet, flooring and musical instrument manufacturers. His customers have shared that they believe the “second half of the year is going to be stable for the domestic markets.”
Transportation costs have “come down a little bit over the past few months and trucks are available at our fingertips.”
His company’s employment status is fairly stable as “80 percent of the employees are very steady and only 20 percent are high turnover.” All their facilities are “in small towns and turnover is common,” he noted.
The lumber industry in Pennsylvania according to one lumber source is “slow because of the current economic conditions” and is “about the same” as six months ago.
Red and White Oak, Hickory, Soft Maple, Basswood and Poplar are the species they offer. They work with “4/4 on everything” and some 5/4 in addition to No. 1 and No. 2 Common & Better in Red and White Oak. White Oak is their bestseller.
They can “haul their own lumber, chips and mulch” because they have their own fleet of trucks.
“Pretty good,” is what he rated their employment stability but that can “change in a heartbeat.”
Exporters comprise their customer base. “My customers have reported a lot of uncertainty and will be concerned about the tariffs until they get straightened out,” he said.
