Overall, at the time of this writing, lumber spokesmen in the Northeast have had similar responses on how the market is faring.
In New York, a lumber sales representative commented that he would, “say it’s steady and the sales are actually still moving pretty good,” even though the market is “probably about even,” when compared to six months ago.
They offer Red and White Oak in 4/4-8/4 and No.1 Common and Better. Red Oak, according to the source, is selling the best.
They “sell all over” and his customers are “staying status quo,” while “trying to move what inventory they have,” he noted.
A lumber spokesperson in Connecticut said, in response to how the market looks in his territory, “if I was going to answer that intelligently, I’d say it’s like a steady slow. I don’t feel like we’re slammed but I don’t feel like we’re extremely slow. Pre-Covid, I would say, ‘Man, we’re okay! We’re keeping our heads above water,’ but it feels slow.” He also added that he didn’t “think we’re getting as many inquiries as we did six months ago but the calls and emails that we are getting, we’re typically turning into orders. Where we were getting a dozen inquiries before, we’re not getting that now; we’re getting that one call. Kicking tires and quoting stuff all day doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. The sense of urgency seems gone.”
Even though they aren’t “lighting the world on fire,” he said it’s “better” than six months ago and went into detail, “there’s more availability in some of the items that were sitting stagnant six months ago and they are trickling out the door now. No. 1 Common Maple, for example, was a dead item six months ago and we’ve still got plenty of it but it’s moving now. I think that’s just inventory correcting itself. People weren’t buying because they had way too much.”
Their main species are Poplar, Hard and Soft Maple, Cherry, Red and White Oak and Ash. They sell their lumber in “pretty much all grades” and FAS, No. 1, 2 and 3 Common. Soft Maple in all grades is, at the time of this writing, their best seller and more specifically, what “everybody wants is 4/4 Soft Maple White.”
Their clientele consists of end users and distributors. He explained what their customers were saying about the market for their own products; “A lot of guys would probably say what I have said: We’re steady enough but there’s no sense of urgency.”
“It’s okay. We’ve seen better,” was the answer provided by a lumber sales representative in Pennsylvania when asked about the marketplace. “The markets right now are a little bit crazy and unpredictable. We’re never sure when orders are going to come.
Despite this, they’ve “remained busy and steady. Currently, I think a lot of people are waiting for interest rates to drop before they start new purchases.” He said the market is “about the same” as it was six months ago.
They handle “all the primary domestic species such as Oaks, Maples, Cherry, Poplar and Hickory mainly in FAS, No.1 Common and 4/4 and 5/4.” Red Oak is selling the best.
They sell to manufacturers and distributors that are all, as he said, “waiting for business to pick back up. We’ve lost so much market share to inferior products. There are competing products that are trying to imitate wood and it’s very unfortunate. We’ve lost craftsmanship out there and I think people are buying products that are just going to be ready for them to install and be cheap. They’re satisfying an immediate need rather than thinking for the long-term. They’re not going for quality.”
