After some carryover from previous week's faster pace, framing lumber trading quieted last week as weather hit key markets and secondaries pulled back to focus on selling. Many prices posted modest gains through Tuesday, but upward momentum fell off Wednesday, leaving prices flat or even vulnerable in late trading. An exception was Southern Pine, which continued to move steadily through the distribution system in the warmer and drier South.






Panel market

Many structural panel prices rose by double digits for the second consecutive week. Prices of OSB worked higher in steady trading. Solid two-week order files allowed mills to turn away counters. Although the pace in Southern Pine plywood slowed from last week's fevered pitch, mills sold volumes of sheathing, underlayment, and specialties at higher prices. Western Fir plywood sales remained heavy to truckloads, either from mills in the West or from distributors in the East.