In What Is Normally The Beginning Of True Building Season Across North
America, The End Of April This Year Did Not Bring The Usual High Volumes Of
Lumber Sales.
Indeed, while recent lower prices did encourage customers to increase
purchasing somewhat, actual sales volumes remained below the seasonal norm.
Participants in the forest products industry and home building alike
question what this means for looming US housing starts. Does this ongoing
muted demand for lumber indicate that new housing construction will be slow
again, as it was last year? It is important to note that across both Canada
and the US the weather has not been much co-operating; as some regions had a
big dump of snow even at the end of April. Elsewhere there was severe storm
activity, which is a bit early compared to the seasonal average.
And, there is a very alarming early start to wildfires in the northwest —
some of which were quite challenging to put out — so lumber industry players
have a lot more questions than answers for the beginning of May 2024.
In the week ending April 26, 2024, the price of Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4
#2&Btr KD (RL) was US$408 mfbm, which is flat from the previous week when it
was $408.
That week’s price is down by -$44, or -10%, from one month ago when it was
$452.
The quiet week capped off a muted month of April, as commodity prices were
flat to down. Plywood prices appeared to be approaching a bottom.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
Weak demand for Western S-P-F underscored a broader market trend.
Current prices made it easier to be a buyer than a seller, for the time
being.
In the East, purchasers did bolster their depleted inventories in advance of
expected spring building activity.
Southern Yellow Pine supply remained well ahead of demand; there was no
appetite to put speculative wood on the ground.
Feeling no urgency to shore up their inventories, purchasers patiently held
out for discounted material.
There was almost no pressure from downstream consumers on inventory holders,
so keeping yard stock lean was a relatively safe gambit.
MADISON’S BENCHMARK TOP-SIX SOFTWOOD LUMBER AND PANEL PRICES: MONTHLY
AVERAGES
Compared To The Same Week Last Year, When It Was Us$360 Mfbm, The Price
Of Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr Kd (Rl) For The Week Ending April 26,
2024 Was Up By +$48, Or +13%.
COMPARED TO TWO YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS $1,060, THAT WEEK’S PRICE IS DOWN BY
-$652, OR -62%.
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