The big US Thanksgiving holiday this year came upon the North American lumber market as expected; with a slow down to sales as wood buyers took time off work at the end of the week.
Sawmills were prepared for this usual annual occurrence, so covered most of the demand during the start of the week. As industry starts winding down to year-end, the strategy is to manufacture only enough lumber to serve demand until the seasonal Holiday shutdowns.
Lumber suppliers do not want to be carrying over wood inventory to the New Year.
The supply-demand balance seems well positioned to accomplish this, as sawmills have two to three weeks
of production booked and customers are ordering just the fill-in material they need to finish their ongoing construction projects.
In the week ending November 29, 2024, the price of Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$470 mfbm, which flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price is up +$67, or +17%, from one month ago when it was $403.
The North American solid wood commodity market paused noticeably as players in the US stepped away for their Thanksgiving holiday. Firm prices and limited availability reigned in SPF and hem/fir, while Southern Yellow Pine continued to slump.
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KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
- Retailers scrambled to find short-term availability with delivery before the holiday weekend.
- Quick shipment times proved to be next to impossible.
- Sellers advised building baseline inventories in the range of 45 days rather than out-waiting sawmills for price drops.
- Available supply at sawmills showed very little buildup, remaining in a relative balance with decreasing demand.
- Sawmill order files were in the two- to three-week range.
- Transactions for OSB and Plywood were limited to spot deals for shipment before the end of the year.
- Several plywood producers in Western Canada claimed to have no cash wood left for 2024.
Madison’s Benchmark Top-Six Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Monthly Averages
