The mills struggled getting new orders in the lumber market yesterday. Demand was good but many of the items they had or the prices offered on them did not entice buyers. Steep counters were not in play as the mills looked for more justified compromises. Another drawback was that mill shipments are generally two weeks away and further, with few exceptions. A prerequisite for many orders was for delivery sooner, as clients had needs to supply now. Consequently many of the quick shipping orders transacted originated from distributor’s reloads.
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Very interesting @william_giguere how the shipment schedule is shifting the demand to other parts of the supply chain, namely distributors, even if buyers/builders need to collect their desired purchase volume from multiple orders. This of course introduces more complexity on the buyers’ business and more risk. But in this market, they are favoring the shorter delivery date to risk tradeoff.
@Andrew_Gibson what are your thoughts from a trader’s perspective? Will the traders be shifting to filling in more orders from distributors vs mills given the delivery constraints of the buyers?
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yes, focus will be on distribution, because of logistics and just in time needs. clients will focus on keeping their inventories tighter with winter months ahead. variables will be weather and how many of the delayed jobs will be starting back up.
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Amen to “starting up delayed jobs”!
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