| U.S. softwood lumber and panel markets update
Fill-in business was steady, but customers willing to purchase carload volumes were
scattered at best. Buyers' onesy-twosey approach kept framing lumber traders relatively
busy on the phones, but mills with on-the-ground inventories were frustrated with the
market. Price chopping was heaviest early on as mills sought to move month-end buildups.
Unless they were unloading excesses, producers gave ground grudgingly. The Random Lengths
Framing Lumber Composite Price fell $7 to $273.
Panel market report
Structural panel sales were mixed, with Southern Pine plywood the best performer. Trading
was a grind in OSB, with mills scrapping for orders while buyers worked to lever prices
downward. Southern Pine plywood markets turned around late in the week following an
earlier pattern of slow trading and weak prices. Several producers reported an increase in
car sales. Supply and demand remained out of balance in western Fir plywood. Most prices
moved down slightly. Traders called for additional curtailments.
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