NORTHEAST Continued
NORTHEAST Continued optimism in the marketplace, but he isn’t seeing a huge demand for Hardwoods in the general marketplace. A New York lumber representative said that his marketplace and sales have been quite slow. “There is no question that China isn’t interested in buying our lumber, which has led to the market being oversupplied with solid Hardwoods while there is an increased usage in panel products.” He mentioned that he believes that the sales are worse than six months ago. “I thought that things were settling, and that everyone would be done adjusting their inventories and that they would be straightened out by now and that companies would be able to purchase lumber in a meaningful way, but I feel like sales have taken another dive.” His company sells to exporters, distribution yards and large wholesalers and sawmills that have secondary manufacturing capabilities. He noted that many of his customers have said that their sales have slowed and that they have stocked up too much inventory that they are having issues moving. His company offers Red and White Oak, Cherry, Poplar, Hard and Soft Maple, and occasionally Walnut. “I would say that 50 percent of my product is going to upper grades, while I find a balancing act for the Nos. 1 and 2 Common that are being soaked up by the railroad ties.” He also mentioned that White Oak is his best seller and that he continues to get phone calls from people offering to sell it to him. “It’s moving along pretty steadily but I’m not sure that the price is going up on it.” n nationalhardwoodmag.com SOUTHEAST Continued from page 13 months ago. I haven’t seen a lot of change in what we are doing,” he added. He sells Red and White Oak, Poplar, Hickory and Mixed Hardwoods. “We offer Nos. 2 and 3 Common, No. 1 and Better and FAS and Better in thicknesses of 4/4 through 8/4,” he said, adding that White Oak is by far his best seller. “We sell to moulding, flooring, furniture and cabinet manufacturers, as well as cross tie and pallet manufacturers. They haven’t offered any comments as to how their sales are doing right now, but I suspect that while they aren’t excited about anything in particular, they have enough business to keep things rolling,” he noted. When asked how the next six months will go, he said, “I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know I am having to take everything one day at a time.” A lumber manufacturer in Louisiana said that his sales have been slow. “Over the past few years we have started to run pine through our mill, and we are currently having to run more of it due to the slow response to Red Oak,” he said. “We don’t have the order to run for a full month and we haven’t since December. It’s been tough for Red Oak.” He said that he thinks that his company is doing worse than it was six months ago but believes that it is primarily due to the time of the year. He sells Red and White Oak, miscellaneous Hardwood species and pine in grades FAS and Better and Nos. 1 and 2 Common in thicknesses of 4/4 and 5/4. “Aside from the pine that we cut to supplement our Hardwood production, White Oak is our absolute best seller,” he added. He sells to flooring and moulding companies, wholesalers and railroad tie buyers. He noted that all of his customers have mentioned that they are slow but he thinks that just like for his business it is due to the time of the year. He mentioned that even with adding pine to their product line that the company would be struggling if it weren’t for the ties that they are able to cut from the center of the logs. n WEST COAST Continued from page 13 “We want to make Red Oak great again because it is the more dominant species,” he said. “A friend of mine is a forester and he said that the log diameters are getting smaller because people are cutting so much (White Oak).” Specializing in thicknesses of 4/4 through 8/4 and some 10/4, 12/4 and 16/4 of particular woods, the distributor said he sells to “any kind of manufacturers” and lumber yards. “Here in California we really only deal with upper grades,” he said. “So, hardly any No. 1 and no No. 2 Please turn the page WORMY CHESTNUT • TROPICALS • QTR & RIFT • CYPRESS • ALDER Headquarters, Concentration Yard & Kilns in Hickory, N.C. 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