Recently, lumber sales on the West Coast were not going gang-busters, as reflected in interviews, but in some places, there were indications of strength. For example, a lumber sales spokesman in California noted that sales were “order-to-order, but steady. You can talk to a guy two days ago; then he wants the lumber now.” Customers delay ordering, then want their wood quickly, he said. “That’s how it is more often than not. That’s the trend right now.” His company offers White Ash in No. 1 and No. 2 Common and FAS in 4/4. They sell to distributors and end users. Where his company is, in Southern California, trucks were not a problem.
“We don’t move a lot of lumber out here,” said a lumber sales spokesman in Washington. “But construction has been crazy-good. There are more new neighborhoods going in. In our region, lumber sales have been OK. There was a little lull the last 30 days. There was a big spike, then things slowed down a little after the quarantine was cancelled.”
At the time of this interview, sales were better than they had been six months before. “There has been a cycle of building and more building and higher demand,” he said.
The Washington lumber provider offers “about every North American hardwood,” the spokesman observed. Included are Hard and Soft Maple, Birch, Alder, Poplar and Red and White Oak. Best sellers were Hard and Soft Maple and Poplar. Thicknesses were mostly 4/4.
The company sells to distribution yards and end users. After a lag in sales volume, it seemed “like it’s OK,” the spokesman said. “It’s good.” He believes demand will pick up going forward. “There are so many home-starts in this area; everybody’s going to feel the increase in volume.” Trucks were harder to get, but container movement was good. “Flatbed trucks have been a little sketchy recently,” the lumber sales spokesman stated.
A lumber provider in Oregon said his sales had been “soft.” “It’s worse” than it was six months ago, he said. “February was still good. This didn’t hit us until late March. Those first two months, we were ahead of the prior year.”
He then assessed the business climate at the time of this interview. He said retailers were doing well, remodels were healthy, and new home sales were “blistering hot.”
He emphasized, “Here’s the bigger thing: the hospitality industry. Our customers do work that goes into restaurants, hotels and travel. We have one customer that does airport related products. That is dead.
“No one’s redoing restaurants right now. Most of them are closed. A 600-room convention hotel opened in December and closed shortly thereafter.”
He said the kitchen cabinet business, remodeling and large builders are faring well. “But they’re under such pressure from the National Association of Home Builders to cut their prices. It’s not sustainable. It’s crazy. It’s a crazy time.”
The Oregon company this spokesman represents carries all domestic and imported species. Best-selling was White Oak and Poplar. Thicknesses ranged from 4/4 to 16/4. Primarily, they sell 4/4, 5/4 and 8/4. The company is known for a full range of thicknesses and grades, he said. For the most part, this company sells to industrial accounts. “Clearly,” he observed, “the people selling to store fixtures, that business is off. Sales to cabinet manufacturers are going along, but pressure is on pricing. Retailers are doing fairly well.” Asked if the availability of trucks was problematic, he said, “No, we have our own fleet. We have trucks at all our locations.”
