National Hardwood Magazine - October 2022

U.S.A. TRENDS
Supplier news about
sales, labor, prices, trends,
expansions and inventories
LAKE STATES
NORTHEAST
SOUTHEAST
WEST COAST
Hardwood lumber sales are proceeding in the Lake
States region but are being pulled down in some cases
by market forces, according to sources recently contacted.
A sawmill representative in Michigan remarked, “Markets
on certain items seem like they’re still very strong.
Stockpiles on other items at our customers’ places of
business are up right now. I would say there are a lot of
customers who seem to be working through inventory
and are buying more cautiously or on an absolute-need
basis.”
The Hardwood markets in the Northeast are inconsistent,
with one sawmill representative recently reporting
a lack of demand in the United States for his specialty
Hardwood items.
A Massachusetts sawmill and wholesale representative
said, “I don’t like the pricing. Pricing is still too low.
We do a lot of specialty work. There’s not much demand
here in the U.S. for that. All of my business is still export.
I have some standing orders overseas, so I have been
lucky in that respect.
“There is virtually no labor available in this part of the
In the Southeast, sales of Hardwood lumber are good
at the time of this writing, but there is a hint of negative
factors in the marketplace.
An Alabama sawmill representative stated, “Marketwise,
sales are sporadic. You have some folks who
have overbought with higher priced lumber and are waiting
to move it out, so they’re curtailing their purchasing.
For other folks, everything’s fine for them and we sell
to them. Right now, it’s not correct to say it’s absolutely
tough. It’s not as tough as it has been in past years. But
we’re way past the peak of this enormous runup of a
At the time of this writing, Hardwood sales on the West
Coast are slower than they have been lately and there is
a degree of uncertainty about how the economy will go.
A lumberman in California stated, “It’s not as busy as
it has been but not bad. You give quotes, the jobs are
going to happen and it’s just a question of when they’re
going to need the wood. That’s what’s going on. There’s
a lot of quotes going on which will turn into orders. I’m
not saying it’s overly busy, but it’s not that bad either.”
The market is “about the same” as it was several
months earlier, he remarked. “I’m more optimistic than
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10 OCTOBER 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE www.RealAmericanHardwood.org
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OCTOBER 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 11