Historically in mid-June most customers had sourced their solid wood commodity products to satisfy needs for ongoing and upcoming construction projects.
Of course, the historical norm has not been evident for the past several years. This year the added burden of continually sharply-rising transportation costs as well as scarcity of trucks and rail cars, made this new market dynamic even more murky.
The now-entrenched practice of not stocking inventory came to a head in mid-June as a bullish movement of lumber Futures caused more customers to place orders, since they felt confirmed that prices would not go lower soon. Continued production cuts and lean supply resulted in a lack of available prompt wood.
As such, customers scrambled to contact all their various sources in search of the products they needed. Often to come up short, and have to wait longer for their new orders to arrive.
In the week ending June 12, 2026, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$490 mfbm.
This was flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price was flat from one month ago.
Northwestern and Southern lumber item prices showed positive trends, while Coastal species (Hemlock and Douglas Fir KD) prices were flat by comparison.
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KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
- Buyers of Western-SPF in the US had difficulty finding wood at the sawmill level, especially for specific mixes on clearcut timelines.
- Western-SPF sellers in Canada were encouraged by several trends which seemed to point to an upward price trajectory.
- Discounted materials were not as prevalent and delivery timelines weren’t as flexible as in recent weeks.
- Commodity prices continued to show firmness while freight costs marched upward.
- Any product that landed in vendor yards was spoken for almost immediately.
- The undersupplied state of the Eastern-SPF market was exposed in a big way as buyers increasingly saw no-quotes from sawmills.
- Suppliers of Southern Yellow Pine reported every order was a tug of war.
- Eastern Stocking Wholesalers remained in the ongoing situation of limited supply running up against anemic demand.
Madison’s Benchmark Top-Six Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Monthly Averages
