It is normal in later summer for lumber sales to be quite soft, as end-users have usually ordered the wood they need for their construction projects.
Most thoughts were on getting in the last of seasonal holidays rather than focussing on work.
Southern Yellow Pine lumber sellers had sent prices waffling radically up-and-down for most of this year, in a search for what the market could bear.
At the beginning of August the weekly price of US$475 mfbm for East Side southern pine 2×4 landed close to the so-far annual low of $450 from the very beginning of 2026.
This after topping out at $595 in April and again at $557 in mid-June; both times dropping back down to the $470-level.
Toward autumn it will become clear exactly how much customers are willing to pay for that particular species of wood.
In the week ending August 07, 2026, the price of benchmark softwood lumber item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$516 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 up +$11, or +2%, from one month ago when it was $505.
Business slowed down across the North American lumber market as summer vacations took precedence over working the phones.
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KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
• Despite tight supply demand trailed off in a seasonally typical fashion for Western-SPF sellers in the US.
• In Canada the sales lull for Western-SPF suppliers deepened as late-summer vacations took precedence over work.
• Buyers were noticeably less active than in July, and those who were engaged felt they had enough latitude to push counteroffers.
• Eastern-SPF sawmill sales lists remained thin.
• Players noted conspicuously light field inventories, thus were expecting an interesting September from the perspective of overall availability.
• The latest slide of Southern Yellow Pine prices started in the East and steadily spread to the Central and Western zones.
• Business in the US Northeast took a step back as extreme heat descended on the region and jobsite activity slowed to a crawl.
Madison’s Benchmark Top-Six Softwood Lumber and Panel Prices: Monthly Averages
