Editor
Lumber sources in the Southeast, at the time of this writing, had negative reports about the market.
A lumber spokesperson in Louisiana cited price contractions as the main cause for this “depressed” market, which he stated is worse than it was six months ago. “We’ve just witnessed so much price contraction over the past three to four months and frankly, we’re just not seeing the sales we were. We know that a lot of our mills are operating below break-even. It’s never good to see,” he added.
They primarily handle Southern Yellow Pine and are planning to produce “somewhere around 40 – 50 million board feet this year,” he said. They work with a little Eastern White Pine and some Ponderosa Pine, but he said that it’s “few and far between,” for those two species. In rough sawing, they are “doing basically all grades,” and even sell some trim. For dressed, they do Common and Better, “both 1 or 2 prime,” and some No. 3 Common, he explained. In 1-inch dressed, they don’t do much C, operating with “mostly D and 2 Selects and a little bit of 3,” he said.
He noted that they sell to a “myriad of different customers,” referencing the company’s factory direct and end-user customer base, which make up the majority. He added that “everything we sell from a Pine perspective goes offshore.” When asked whether his customers had any commentary regarding the markets for their own products, he explained that throughout Asia “the strength of the dollar has caused them to be prohibited from buying Southern Yellow Pine from the United States. A lot of them are buying either the Pine that comes out of Northern Europe, South America or New Zealand.”
He had knowledge about the European, Middle Eastern and Caribbean marketplaces as well, mentioning that “in Europe, it’s market based and their market has been quite slow and depressed for about six months. We have seen a little bit of a resurgence in the Middle East where it is better than it was six months ago but, in the Caribbean, we have seen about a 30 percent contraction of the market. A lot of customers are saying their takeaways or monthly sales were not as good as six months ago.”
As for negative effects on his business, he stated that they are starting to notice “some more problems offshore,” because in the last two months, container rates have “increased dramatically into some markets and bookings are also harder to get. Before, we could have something and get a booking in the same month and these days, bookings tend to be four-six weeks out for many destinations.”
A lumber salesman in Mississippi explained why he revealed that the market was “weak” and worse than six months ago, by stating that “this time of year, we get a lot of heat related business slowdowns. There’s also too much production, especially in the dimension market for the 2-inch products. Buyers don’t feel any urgency in getting any more than they must, so it’s building up on the mill yards. Probably the biggest issue is the interest rates and the economy just hasn’t been good.”
They solely produce Southern Yellow Pine in No. 2 Common.
He noted that the majority of their customer base consists of treaters but they also sell to contractor yards and industrial accounts.
His view for the future is less than optimistic, as he said that “there’s just nothing on the horizon. It doesn’t look like anything is going to change anytime soon.”
A lumber spokesperson in Arkansas said that the market, which is worse than it was six months ago, has been “below average” and that he thinks “everybody is in the same boat right now because the interest rates have gone up but the prices are low.”
The company specializes in Southern Yellow Pine in 2×4 – 2×12 and 5/4 decking.
They sell to treaters, distributors and industrial manufacturers. He mentioned that his customers are feeling uncertain about the future.
