PRICES REFLECT MARCH 13, 2020 ISSUE OF MADISON’S LUMBER REPORTER
BENCHMARK 2×4 Kiln Dried R/L #Construction #Framing #North #American #Softwood #Lumber and Panel Prices Graphs: March 13, 2020
Western SPF: USA Concern
- Western Spruce-Pine-Fir purveyors in the United States described a “super-cautious” lumber market last week as worries about the Coronavirus reached a fever pitch.
- Softwood lumber producers froze their asking prices and held order files around three weeks out, hoping to wait out the current panic among buyers.
- A two-tiered market developed as secondary suppliers sold at deepening discounts to replacement levels in order to clean up their inventories during this volatile stretch.
Softwood Lumber Prices Market-Leading KD 2×4 #2&Btr Lumber Prices Graph: March 17, 2020
Western SPF: Canada Quarantine
- Softwood lumber sales volumes dipped palpably this week as apprehensive buyers either self-quarantined or sat on their hands while they waited to see what this uncertain market will bring.
- One veteran Western Spruce-Pine-Fir player in Canada expounded that this was possibly the quietest week they had ever seen.
- Rail car supply remained a consistent problem even as transit volumes and overall business took a step back.
Standard Construction Framing North American Dimension Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Wholesale Price March 17, 2019 (net FOB mill North America)
