As January drew to a close most benchmark softwood lumber commodity prices continued flat, staying on-trend to the waning weeks of 2024.
Conversations circled around the repeated threats of tariffs. Some operators chose to veer on the side of caution, making plans only one-week out. While others maintained their usual habit of buying, or selling, up to three weeks into the future. Harsh weather across large parts of the continent continued to keep construction projects slow, as well as causing transportation delays. Industry players were happy to see a stability of price trend materializing, as the graphs on this page indicate; 2025 started out at almost the exact same level as 2024.
This makes it much easier for companies to plan their coming spring buying and selling activity than it was during the extreme volatility of 2020 to 2022.
In the week ending January 31, 2025, the price of Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$445 mfbm, which is flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price is down -$13, or -3%, from one month ago when it was $458.
Indecisiveness continued to characterize the market this week. The latest scuttlebutt indicated that if Canada takes action to clamp down on unlawful border traffic, tariffs will not be imposed.
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KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
- Despite ongoing mentions of tariffs, a growing subset of Western S-P-F purveyors in the United States returned to business-as-usual.
- US producers maintained lead times in the range of one- to three-weeks, while their counterparts north of the border kept to a one-week-at-a-time approach.
- Both primary and secondary suppliers in Canada were more open to counteroffers, indicating weakening demand.
- Eastern Canadian sawmills kept Eastern S-P-F offerings to a minimum in view of potential tariffs.
- Stateside reloads remained comparatively busy, with plenty of inbound Canadian material heading into their tariff-protected yards.
- Sawmills across all Southern Yellow Pine zones showed buildups of bread-and-butter items amid weak seasonal demand and scattered availability.
- Oriented Strand Board prices started to tick up while that of plywood continued to soften.
Madison’s Benchmark Top-Six Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Monthly Averages
