The Wood and Fiber Supply Chain Experts
Southwide Trends in Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices
From the January 2010 Forest2Mill newsletter.
One of the benefits of Mill2Market, Forest2Market’s lumber pricing
service, is that the data comes from actual orders and invoices—with all the detail they contain.
The amount of detail allows us to get behind the volume and price data and understand who has the
price power in the marketplace.
In a six-week period between the end of October and the beginning of December, for instance,
approximately 70 percent of framing lumber was purchased for construction-related purposes, either
by builders or retail entities selling to builders (the remainder was purchased by treaters or
remanufacturers).
This allows Forest2Market to connect what we learn from the data to other market indicators.
In November, for instance, the Census Bureau reported that the number of building permits and
housing starts jumped in November, with permits increasing 6 percent and starts increasing nearly 9
percent.
This 9 percent increase in starts reverberated into lumber prices. Across the South,
southern yellow pine #2 2x4 and 2x6 prices have gained similar ground. From October 23 through
December 23, the price of southern yellow pine #2 2x4s increased nearly 10 percent or $22.86 per
MBF (Figure 1). The price of #2 2x6s appreciated by nearly 9 percent, a total of $19.86 per MBF
(Figure 2).
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