Get Our Email Newsletter

Lumber Prices Rise to Start 2017

The National Association of Home Builders reports on its Eye on Housing blog that the price of lumber, from framing to structural panels, has increased in recent weeks with some prices rising more than 30%.

Softwood lumber prices have been relatively steady since 2014, NAHB reports. During this period, the largest one-week price increase of framing lumber (+6.8%), as measured by the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Index, occurred in the middle of the recent price escalation. The largest one-month swing of softwood lumber during this period was 2.9% in 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index (PPI).

The trade agreement that has governed Canadian imports of softwood lumber since 2006 effectively expired at the end of 2016, the mechanics and consequences of which are discussed below.  Failure to reach a new agreement is the primary catalyst of market-wide price increases. The outlook of a new pact between the U.S. and Canada and thus, lumber prices, is highly uncertain at this point. However, price trends in the 2001-2006 period (the last time negotiations were held) may offer clues as to what lies ahead.

LBM Resources

White Paper: Protect Your Business from Ransomware

Ransomware pirates are using the coronavirus in a variety of malicious campaigns to attack businesses. Don’t fall victim to these tactics.

See the NAHB blog for the full story.

Get our free newsletter

Join thousands of other lumber and building material industry leaders and keep up with the companies, people, products and issues shaping the industry.

What's New

Digital Partners

Become a digital partner ...

Sales Comp Study

Download this 55-page, in-depth study by LBM Journal of industry trends in sales force compensation and benefits. See how your organization stacks up.

Webinars

- Advertisement -

White Papers

View all ...

- Advertisement -

Partner Content

View all ...

- Advertisement -

Registration is now open for the LBM Strategies 2024 Conference