Northeast Business Trends

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Northeast Business Trends 1
By Cadance Hanson
Staff Writer

Across the Northeast region sources say that their markets are doing well, at the time of this writing. They all noted that their sales seem to be the same if not better than they were six months ago.
In New Hampshire a lumber spokesperson said that his market is fairly strong. He also noted that his sales seem to be better than they were six months ago.
He handles Pine and Hemlock in grades Standard and Premium, as well as some Select No. 2. He deals with Pine in thicknesses ranging from 4/4 to 12/4 and green Pine timbers and Hemlock in green 1x, 2x and timbers. He mentioned that rough green Hemlock is his most popular.

His company mainly sells to contractors. “They say they are doing really well. The higher end customers are doing better than the middle end customers. The ones in the middle have seen their prices get squeezed a little bit harder with the current economy. The threat of a recession is making them drop projects that they might not have dropped if the cost of fuel and electricity weren’t going up,” he said.
While his company is shorthanded when it comes to labor, they aren’t seeing any shortages when it comes to trucking.

In New York a sawmill representative said that his market is doing well. “We are doing pretty good, everything seems to be the same as it was six months ago,” he remarked.
His sawmill handles Eastern White Pine exclusively, “…and we primarily cut 6/4 and cabin timbers,” he said.
He noted that he mainly sells to manufacturers that further process the wood. “They say they are moving wood pretty well right now,” he mentioned.

When asked about transportation he said that they aren’t having any problems and that trucking has been good.
In Massachusetts a lumber representative said that her market is incredibly strong. “There is a lot of inbound demand and the mild winter that we have had so far has really been pushing sales beyond what we typically see this time of year,” she said.

She said that their sales are the same as they were six months ago, if not slightly better. “The demand is still out there. A lot of these building projects that were scheduled last year haven’t even broken ground, people are just starting to buy supplies at this point,” she continued. She also mentioned that the housing market in her region is still strong and hasn’t taken a downturn like it has in other areas of the country.
She deals with Eastern White Pine and Western Red Cedar in all grades, industrial through Select, primarily in 4/4 thickness. She mentioned that Eastern White Pine is selling the best, at the time of this writing.

Her company mainly sells to industrial manufacturers and independent lumber yards. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with our clients this year and all but a handful have said that they are straight out busy right now,” she commented.

She noted that transportation has been better than it was at the end of last year. “We all saw it with the rise of diesel prices throughout 2022 but it seems to be correcting itself a little bit,” she remarked.
Her company has continued to have issues with labor shortages over the past several years. “We are fortunate to have several long-standing employees but bringing on new help remains a challenge,” she said.

Across the Northeast region sources say that their markets are doing well, at the time of this writing. They all noted that their sales seem to be the same if not better than they were six months ago.
In New Hampshire a lumber spokesperson said that his market is fairly strong. He also noted that his sales seem to be better than they were six months ago.
He handles Pine and Hemlock in grades Standard and Premium, as well as some Select No. 2. He deals with Pine in thicknesses ranging from 4/4 to 12/4 and green Pine timbers and Hemlock in green 1x, 2x and timbers. He mentioned that rough green Hemlock is his most popular.

His company mainly sells to contractors. “They say they are doing really well. The higher end customers are doing better than the middle end customers. The ones in the middle have seen their prices get squeezed a little bit harder with the current economy. The threat of a recession is making them drop projects that they might not have dropped if the cost of fuel and electricity weren’t going up,” he said.
While his company is shorthanded when it comes to labor, they aren’t seeing any shortages when it comes to trucking.

In New York a sawmill representative said that his market is doing well. “We are doing pretty good, everything seems to be the same as it was six months ago,” he remarked.
His sawmill handles Eastern White Pine exclusively, “…and we primarily cut 6/4 and cabin timbers,” he said.
He noted that he mainly sells to manufacturers that further process the wood. “They say they are moving wood pretty well right now,” he mentioned.

When asked about transportation he said that they aren’t having any problems and that trucking has been good.
In Massachusetts a lumber representative said that her market is incredibly strong. “There is a lot of inbound demand and the mild winter that we have had so far has really been pushing sales beyond what we typically see this time of year,” she said.

She said that their sales are the same as they were six months ago, if not slightly better. “The demand is still out there. A lot of these building projects that were scheduled last year haven’t even broken ground, people are just starting to buy supplies at this point,” she continued. She also mentioned that the housing market in her region is still strong and hasn’t taken a downturn like it has in other areas of the country.
She deals with Eastern White Pine and Western Red Cedar in all grades, industrial through Select, primarily in 4/4 thickness. She mentioned that Eastern White Pine is selling the best, at the time of this writing.

Her company mainly sells to industrial manufacturers and independent lumber yards. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with our clients this year and all but a handful have said that they are straight out busy right now,” she commented.

She noted that transportation has been better than it was at the end of last year. “We all saw it with the rise of diesel prices throughout 2022 but it seems to be correcting itself a little bit,” she remarked.
Her company has continued to have issues with labor shortages over the past several years. “We are fortunate to have several long-standing employees but bringing on new help remains a challenge,” she said.

By Miller Wood Trade Publications

The premier online information source for the forest products industry since 1927.

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