US Thanksgiving Brings Soft Lumber Demand
As is historically usual for this season, demand — and therefore prices — of most softwood lumber items dropped during the US Thanksgiving holiday week. This time of year is normally marked by slowing construction activity thus lower demand for dimension lumber. Of course, the past two years have not been normal. As forest industry players look to the end of the year, the big question is; what is going to happen in 2023?
Expectations are that supply and demand are in better balance now than they have been since early 2021, which gives both sellers and customers the ability to find where the new price level will be. In these new market conditions, “new normal”, the current price of benchmark item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2x4 #2&Btr is hovering at just below cost-of-production for most of the large-volume operators in British Columbia. As we head into the true slow-down at year end, all eyes are on where the new price bottom will be.
In the week ending November 25, 2022, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2x4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$475 mfbm, which is down by -$15 or -3%, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter. This is up by +$13, or +3%, from one month ago when it was $463.
