Demand and activity strengthened in the lumber market yesterday. The Canadian mills pushed hard to get as many orders over the border to the states as possible, ahead of an expected hike in tariffs due to be implemented next week. Retailers and distributors reacted and bought many of the opportunities afforded them. Wholesalers obliged with a keen sense of aggressiveness, trying to put together as much back to back business with the mills as possible. The sense that prices were not going much lower but rather were poised to rebound and go higher pervaded buyer’s mindsets.
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Is this like Black Friday, but instead of TVs it’s for lumber?
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Hi @william_giguere! Great post! I am curious, with the looming winter energy crisis and tariffs increasing, it seems likely that prices continue to increase, which will increase the stress on the consumer’s wallet.
I have two questions, one, what is the administration’s goal of increasing tariffs when lumber prices are volatile and we are experiencing shortages? Wouldn’t reducing barriers to trade allow for more stability within the market and ease the shortages?
Second, do you think political pressure will force the administration to reverse or delay the implementation of this tariff to help consumers?
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Hello Easmond, I will respond to your questions later today. Thank you!
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prices will move up or down due to supply and demand. tariffs affect mill bottom lines and generally do not increase prices in the market. they may have an effect but prices reverberated back to supply and demand.
it was not a goal of the administration to increase tariffs but a result of a longstanding dispute between american sawmills and canadian sawmills. the americans have been concerned by the subsidies the canadian mills have received from their government through lower stumpage and other factors.
political pressure not so much as the international court and other judicial courts will have
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