As the month of June came on the seemingly entrenched habit of not stocking inventory caught up with lumber buyers.
More purchases were booked at sawmills, sending prices slightly higher. The lack of supply throughout the market shifted sentiment from a “wait-and-see” approach to more active purchases.
As customers had trouble sourcing the material they needed for ongoing construction projects, they insisted less on making counter-offers and more on taking actual delivery. Highly populated areas like the US northeast started to see an increase in home building activity as true
summer weather finally arrived.
In the week ending May 30, 2025, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$450 mfbm.
This is up +$6, or +1%, from the previous week when it was $444, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price is up +$4, or +1%, from one month ago when it was $446.
Traders reported marginally better demand for Spruce-Pine-Fir after the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Sales of Southern yellow pine meanwhile continued to languish.
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KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
- Western-SPF buyers in the US continued to keep their inventories conspicuously lean.
- There was a palpable absence of pressure from end-users downstream.
- Secondary suppliers maintained thin on-ground stocks as they avoided accumulating too much of any one commodity item.
- There was noticeably less material available on Canadian Western-SPF sawmill sales lists.
- Eastern-SPF buyers were cautious with their forays, shopping around extensively.
- Southern Yellow Pine suppliers worked to track down business, while buyers twiddled their thumbs.
- Business in the busy US Northeast was still confined to short-covering.
- Purchasers on the US eastern seaboard had let their inventories run so low they had to step in with new purchases.
Madison’s Benchmark Top-Six Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Monthly Averages
