Staff Writer
In Massachusetts one lumber supplier has noticed a slight slowdown in business, but stated that market activities are returning to normal, resembling pre-Covid conditions.
“Things are slowing down a little bit which is typical for this time of the year. We didn’t see that last year or the year prior, we stayed steadily busy year around for those two years. This is more reminiscent of what we saw pre-Covid, so we are kind of trending right where things should be in normal circumstances,” she stated.
Her company handles both Eastern White Pine and Western Red Cedar, offering all grades and thicknesses from 4/4 to 8/4.
She sells mostly to industrial manufacturers and independent lumber yards. When asked how their sales were doing, she remarked, “It’s a mixed bag. We sell to a variety of different industrial manufacturers, so depending on the end user, that product is either staying steady or it is a little slow right now. That is typical for industrial manufacturers during this time of the season. That again is kind of reflecting what normal circumstances would be like from before Covid,” she added.
When asked about her labor she stated that labor is always a challenge, but they have been lucky to bring in some good new employees over the past year. “We are very fortunate to have brought on some great new people over the past year. We are not quite at the struggle we were at last year or the year prior.”
In Maine, a Softwood sales representative has dealt with challenges in recent weeks, but he is expecting a good fall season.
“It’s been tough this week that’s for sure and has been that way the past few weeks. I think it has been so hot across the US that is has been putting an impact on demand and there is more wood showing up so we’re certainly giving some back this week. There is a lot of pressure from the European Imports again. I think the demand is still decent and we are still expecting to have a good fall but it’s just the heat right now is slowing things down,” the source stated.
He sells mostly SPF in grades that range from Appearance to Economy and a little bit of Eastern White Pine in Select, Premium, Standard and Industrial grades.
“We have a variety of customers. We have some retail customers for our Premium, we sell to professional distributors for Struct grade No. 2 and we will sell our low grade to pallet people,” he said and added that he thinks most of their demand is staying steady at the time of this writing.
Regarding labor, he mentioned that they are doing good, maintaining full production across all locations with no significant slowdowns this season.
Over in New Hampshire things are going well for one lumber supplier, and when asked about his markets he stated, “We are doing good. We have been steady for the past several months and would say business is overall okay.”
His mill works only with Eastern White Pine for Softwoods and Grades in Industrial, Standard, Premium, and D and Better Select.
“We deal mostly with brokers and wholesale distributors. They seem to be doing well. I know that some of the shed and barn siding products seem to be slowing down a bit, but I think overall they are doing okay,” he commented.
Labor challenges have not been as big of an issue for him and commented, “We are doing good and probably better than some others out there. We got a good core group of workers and have been lucky to have them.”
