It was a very unexciting start to spring for North American softwood lumber manufacturers. Demand remained muted as customers felt only more cautious about external factors like macro-economic conditions and skyrocketing fuel prices. Sellers responded by continuing to keep their sold wood inventories low, as confusion reigned and no one wanted to get stuck with…

Oil shock, housing, and trade uncertainty in focus at MWC: part II A panel of industry leaders at the recent Montréal Wood Convention examined key market drivers, including U.S. housing starts, mass timber growth, the repair and remodelling (R&R) segment, and ongoing trade uncertainty. Industry panel Moderated by Mark Allison of Boscus Canada, the discussion…

There was no noticeable increase in demand for North America construction framing dimension softwood lumber in the middle of April. Prices remained mostly flat, with some items correcting down slightly. Players spent a lot of time tracking down where was delivery of their solid wood products already ordered. Sellers were managing the location of trucks…

Oil shock, housing, and trade uncertainty in focus at MWC: part I Oil shocks, inflation and a softening economy are converging at a critical moment for North America, with potential ripple effects for the forest products sector, Benjamin Tal of CIBC Capital Markets told delegates at the Montreal Wood Convention. Industry leaders outline risks and…

REQUEST A SAMPLE: https://madisonsreport.com/products/lumber-price-dashboard/ Early Spring 2026 Lumber Demand SoftLumber demand continued to be broadly supply-driven, with limited availability propping up prices even as many buyers took the week to step back, digest, and reassess. Deep dive into softwood latest lumber prices and market update for mid-april 2026.

The Easter long weekend did little to bring an increase in demand for North America construction framing dimension softwood lumber. While some prices had risen slightly in recent weeks, most activity toward mid-April was industry searching out where their orders were in the transportation network. Even as true spring weather materialized across the continent, sentiment…

Construction activity in the US south jumped to life at the beginning of April, sending lumber prices slightly higher. Important regions like Texas and California came in to the market with volume buys. Lumber manufacturers were more focussed on booking orders than on raising prices. As such, sawmill order files stretched out toward the end…

As March drew to a close many lumber prices started to rise slightly. Levels currently were right in the middle, between those of the same time last year and in 2024. Despite an extended winter and soft demand, this is encouraging to industry as regular seasonal price stability is best for planning. Expectations for housing…

True spring weather and ongoing low inventory volumes served to bring enough new demand for lumber prices to increase somewhat. The graphs attached here show a good, stable trend-line over the past two years, with prices ranging approximately $200 between the lowest and the highest points annually. So far in 2026 prices are right in…