Northeast Business Trends My 2026 – The Northeast Struggles Through Spring
The Northeastern hardwood market is leaden with negative or mediocre market reports. Transportation is troubled due to increased fuel prices while many lumber representatives struggle to see a bright side.
The market demand for hardwoods in New York, as reported by one Northeast lumber spokesman, was described as “medium — it’s not hot or cold,” he said.
It is about the same as six months ago according to the source. There is “not really anything interesting happening in the market that we can look forward to right now,” he noted. “It’s a little slow because of the war going on. There’s just less usage of hardwoods.”
“Red and White Oak are selling about equal, and grades and thicknesses are selling about the same, too,” he stated. They offer the Oaks in FAS & Better and No. 1 Common.
Hardwood distribution yards and end users are their customers, all of which say, according to him, “that the marketplace is very competitive and I’m finding that’s true, too.”
He said they will “be able to manage” even though fuel and trucking prices have increased.
“Grade is a little slow and pricing is down a little. Pallet is good where I’m at.” observed one Pennsylvania lumber representative.
Lower grades are better than they were six months ago because of the pallet industry, while upper grades are faring worse. The pallets are “doing better compared to grade lumber because of pricing.”
Red, White and Black Oak, Poplar and fir are what they handle. “Red Oak has been the best seller, and the price is going down. Mostly 4/4 and we do some 5/4,” he added. Nos. 1 and 2 Common for flooring and FAS are also grades they use.
Aside from flooring, he stated that they are “big into fence posts – we do about 40 loads of them a year. My customers have said the market is iffy and they don’t really know what is happening. It’s getting old.”
When asked if there was anything to look forward to in the market, he replied, “You tell me. That would make my day. I don’t have anything positive to look forward to because I’m not getting any positive vibes. They don’t have an answer on upper grades and it’s coming down, and the low grades seem decent but that could change, too.”
In Maryland, a lumber source reported that the market in her area has been worse but “it’s been a lot better as well. It’s really tough to get orders at this time and the prices aren’t what they were. We’re just trying to keep our heads above water.”
When asked to compare the current market to six months ago, she explained that it is “worse than six months ago” in her area.
In addition to 5/4 Poplar, their best-seller, she said they offer 4/4 Poplar, FAS & Better and “dabble” in 10/4 and 12/4 and “sometimes go as far as 16/4, which doesn’t happen often.”
They also work with Red and White Oak. The upper grades are the “money makers,” she added, “while lower grades are hard to get rid of and we are in quota for anything No. 2 Common and below. We can only get a certain amount per month. We sell mixed hardwood cants and pallets, too.”
They sell to businesses that have kiln drying capabilities because they do not own a kiln. “We don’t sell directly to the end-user. My customers have said it is tough for them to move, and they have a lot of inventory. They aren’t selling what they have, so that’s why they aren’t taking new orders,” she explained.
When asked how transportation and labor were faring on her end, she replied, “labor and transportation are negatively affecting the business – especially now that fuel prices are going up. We have a lot of small companies who we rely on. I have a few companies that I use because instead of going through brokers, I’d rather keep mom and pop open. They’re reliable and are not going to be able to make it through this if the price continues like this. A lot of them have gone out in the past few years and this year is not looking very good for them. It’s getting to the point where we are going to have to use brokers and I absolutely hate doing that. You never know what you get. You get these people in here who look like they just got their license out of a bubblegum machine, and you never know if your product is going to make it there – it’s crazy. Their trucks are too heavy, or they never have the right equipment. It doesn’t matter how much you stress what you need, sometimes they show up with a van trailer trying to get a flatbed load. I have horror stories on the freights.”
