National Hardwood Magazine - June 2020

U.S.A. TRENDS CONTINUED

U.S.A. TRENDS CONTINUED SOUTHEAST WEST COAST At the time of this writing, rainy weather continued to vex the Hardwood market in the Southeast even as the coronavirus spurred a new challenge. In North Carolina, a lumber supplier said the market has been challenging. “It’s wet, we’ve got no logs to speak of and this week it seems like the orders coming in have almost cut completely off,” he said. The source said his last two weeks of business had been good, “but when I came in Monday morning and cut the lights on, it seems like I cut the business off. We’ve just struggled for orders this week, and a lot of them are not at a fair price.” White Oak (FAS) in 4/4 thickness is his best seller; customers are a mix of distributors, end users, big box stores and mom-and-pop stores. “The No. 2 is beginning to come back,” he added. “That’s just in flooring plants.” He also carries Red Oak, “which is just beginning to come back, but we don’t have any volume. The next would be Poplar, which has held its own, the 1 and 2 is kind of cheap, but it has held its own. When we can get Cypress, we do pretty good in it. Ash is typically a good seller, but I’ve got a couple of loads of it now and there’s been no interest.” The lumber contact said his business has cut a great deal of pine lately because of the rainy weather hampering the Hardwood supply. “That has been what’s kept us working,” he explained. The source noted that freight prices had “gotten down to likable” until the coronavirus prompted an increase in rates. The coronavirus also has been affecting freight rates and lumber orders for a sawmill source in Tennessee, who described the flooring sector in the Northeast as extremely challenging. “The flooring was moving really well, but it hit a wall when the virus spread there,” he said, adding the Southeastern flooring market has remained fairly steady. The contact noted some difficulty getting transportation to the coronavirus “hot spots,” and that freight rates had risen. Other end users, such as moulding and millwork manufacturers, are doing OK though they are experiencing a lack of availability of Red and White Oak in upper grades, he reported. The source’s lumber exporting has picked up, with Red Lumber sources along the West Coast all agree that it’s a tough time to be in the Hardwood business because of business shutdowns attributed to the coronavirus restrictions. “We have people holding off their purchases or pushing them out further,” a lumber source in Washington State said. White Oak (FAS) and Soft Maple (upper grades, No. 1 Common) in mostly 4/4 and some 5/4 thickness are selling the best. His company also sells Red Oak, Hard Maple, Poplar, Alder, Walnut, Hickory and Beech. Customers are mainly distribution yards and end users. “A few of them have said they’re pushing orders out because they’re afraid it might slow down and they don’t want excess inventory,” the contact said. In Oregon, another lumber source also reported a very slow market due to the business shutdowns. “The kitchen cabinet guys that are building residential cabinets are all doing pretty good. Those construction sites are still going along,” the contact said. “But then you have the commercial application side of our business-- whether it’s hospitality, retail, or we even have a couple of big exhibition companies we sell to-- that business is all decimated. Their orders were all cancelled or pushed out or put on hold, and so they all went from fairly decent order files to nothing.” Poplar, White Oak and Walnut in upper grades and primarily 4/4 thickness are selling the best among his customers, who are mainly end users. His company stocks about 60 or 70 Hardwood species. “The supply side seems to be pretty good,” the source reported. “The only thing I’m hearing from our supply side is if they have enough people showing up for work to get orders out. Some folks have people who just flat out aren’t showing up.” In Northern California, a distributor source described his market this way: “It was really good, but now it’s off because of the coronavirus restrictions for businesses. It’s hurt a lot of people, but we’ve been OK so far. We didn’t know what to expect, we still don’t know, but hopefully we’ll get people back to work right away.” He continued: “We sell to a lot of lumberyards and I talk to those guys, who all say the same thing: ‘It’s quiet around here.’ ” Other customers are manufacturers of wood prod- Please turn to page 39 Please turn to page 40 8 JUNE 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE

We do. Call it unconditional, all-encompassing, you name it. As a software developer committed solely to the lumber and building materials industry, DMSi has every corner of your operation covered. From inventory and sales to production and procurement, we make sure no corners are cut and no detail is left out. And that’s a promise we’ll hold true. Visit DMSi.com JUNE 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 9