The Timber Market

Lumber prices once again skyrocketed this quarter with the Random Lengths framing lumber composite price approaching $1,000.  The continued strong demand (housing starts, R&R, cedar) for nearly every type of lumber coupled with a supply chain still recovering from a tumultuous 2020 offers some explanation for the record prices.  Local mills continue to run at or near full production but it is not enough as variable log availability and historical and current geopolitical issues create a situation where lumber supplies (and consequently, prices) seem to move in rapid swings.  Unfortunately the timing of this most recent lumber market run has coincided with a mostly wet and mild spring in the inland northwest making it difficult to get logs from the woods to the mills in some areas.  Even so mills generally have very good log inventories due to the strong market throughout 2020.  Local mills seem hesitant to match the trajectory of the lumber market, instead offering measured price increases on logs, sitting on full yards and turning their attention to the what-ifs of late spring and summer.  Doug-fir/larch, grand fir/hemlock, ponderosa pine and cedar logs and lumber are all in high demand in the inland.  Pulp and pulp logs continue to be a soft spot in the forest products market.