F2M Market Watch

The Southern Pine Inspection Board (SPIB) has submitted new design values for all sizes and grades of visually graded southern pine dimension lumber to the American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) for review. The ALSC Board of Review (BOR) will meet on October 18 to hear testimony about the new design values. The proposed values are subject to adjustment during the review process and will not go into effect until at least six months following approval by the BOR.

To develop the new values, the SPIB and Timber Products Inspection worked together, testing more than 7,400 full-size samples of commercially produced Southern Pine. The results of the first step, which looked at No.2 2x4s (Dense and lower grades) went into effect on June 1, 2012. In the second step, additional dimensions were tested.

According to the Southern Forest Products Association, approximate design value changes (compared to current design values) for Southern Pine 2x6s through 2x12s (all visual grades) and 2x4s (SS and No.1) include the following:

Approximate design value adjustments to the values for 2x4s (No.2 and lower grades) that went into effect on June 1 include the following:

Compare the Proposed Southern Pine Design Values Proposed Southern Pine Design Values to the Current Southern Pine Design Values. If you would like to know more about the design values, or if you would like to attend the October 18 meeting, email the ALSC at alsc@alsc.org. They will provide further documentation and call-in information for the meeting, which will take place at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.