Editor
Across the Southeast, multiple sources have indicated that their markets are experiencing a slowdown in comparison to previous years.
In Alabama, a lumber supplier said that the market is extremely slow at the time of this writing. “I think it’s the worse it has been in 3 years,” she remarked.
“Right now, if you call people, it usually goes to their voicemail or they will say they are not buying right now, or that they don’t need anything. I don’t know why it’s like this but it’s the worse I have seen it in three years. Things just have not been good this year. I think we might see an uptick later in the year when things cool down a bit,” she said.
She handles only Southern Yellow Pine in grades Prime, No. 2, 3 and 4 in 2×4, 2×6, 3×4, and 4×4.
Her customers mostly include traders, truss manufacturers, crate builders and wholesalers. “Most of my customers say they can’t even use up what they already have. They don’t have any room for more lumber, even for the people who buy the lumber for pallet grades. It’s hard to move the lower grade material because the pallets aren’t moving. I think it’s affecting most of my customers,” she commented.
One lumber sales representative based in Louisiana reported that the slowdown of the market also continues for him this year. While his overall business remains slow, he noted that some customers are more active than others.
“We are an export mill and for us the slowdown does continue. It’s uneven across zones. Europe is much slower as is Asia. Those are areas we are really suffering as far as sales go and are easily off as much as 70 percent. It’s not great but you know at least it’s uneven. It’s not dead everywhere and it seems to be regionalized,” the source stated.
For Softwoods, his company mainly handles Southern Yellow Pine in thicknesses of 4/4-16/4 and in all grades.
“We sell to end use manufacturers, stocking distributors, and importers overseas. Hearing from them, their orders are quite slow. A lot of their furniture production facilities are sitting idle, and they don’t have any new orders.
Americans have stopped buying couches and love seats and it’s affecting their business,” he added.
When asked about any other factors affecting his business, he mentioned that trucking costs have come back in line, but he did add that drayage and warehouse prices have not dipped much from their Covid highs.
Over in Mississippi, a lumber supplier expressed that his markets were doing “okay” at the time of this writing but were still down from previous years in terms of sales.
“We are doing okay. Our markets are getting a little better. Pallets and pallet components are staying steady for us. General lumber sales are probably right now at 50 to 60 percent compared to the last couple of years,” he commented.
He handles only Southern Yellow Pine in industrial grades with most of it going to pallets or pallet components. “These pallet markets always seem to be steady for us so that’s a positive.”
When asked about other challenges, he mentioned that there are currently no external factors giving him much of an issue.
