NORTHEAST Continued from
NORTHEAST Continued from page 6 Soft Maple, Yellow Birch and Ash in grades Select and Better, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Common in thicknesses of 4/4 and 5/4. He noted that they also handle cants. “Red Oak is moving the best for us right now, even though we aren’t able to make much money off it,” he said. His company primarily sells to end use manufacturers and distribution yards. He said that while his customers haven’t directly said how their business is doing, they seem to be doing well based on his lumber sales. “I think that we still have some headwinds in front of us,” he said. “I think that we are going to see impacts from the rising energy prices over the last quarter of this year and into the first quarter of next.” A lumber representative in Massachusetts said that their market couldn’t be any better. “We are doing just as well as we were six months ago,” he commented. “We aren’t having any problems what so ever.” His company handles all New England Hardwoods in all grades and mostly in 4/4 thickness. “We cut our own timber and sell the grade lumber piece by piece to retail lumber yards,” he added. “We take the lower grades and turn them into pallets, selling them to different factories.” In Pennsylvania, a lumber saleswoman said that while their main species are still moving fairly well, they all differ. “White Oak is our best seller right now and it is hot. Red Oak has really started to improve and Poplar is moving, however the prices for it are stagnant,” she remarked. She noted that pricing has gone up as volume has decreased. “Volume is down. We’ve had issues with labor and with the heat this summer we weren’t pushing hard to get more volume. So, our air-dried inventory is low and while we have logs coming in we are choosing to keep a low inventory out of necessity,” she said. She continued to say that they are having issues moving their lower grades which has posed a problem as they aren’t able to produce higher grades without moving the lower. She said that her company sells to end users such as stair and flooring manufacturers, as well as distribution yards and some exporters. “Sixty percent of our sales used to be exports but that has flipped and we now do more domestic sales than anything,” she added. When asked how her customers were doing she said that while they seem to be very busy at times, they will suddenly find themselves extremely slow on occasion. n SOUTHEAST Continued from page 7 also mentioned that White Oak is his best selling species with plenty of demand. When asked what types of customers that he sells to, he said secondary manufacturers, such as flooring, cabinets and moulding, as well as distribution yards. “Some of my clients are doing worse than others. It seems that the Hardwood flooring sector is suffering worse than any other sector that I sell to.” Another Mississippi lumberman said, “Our market seems to be going the wrong way. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking that everything is terrible, but once I looked at the financial statements everything was where it needed to be and we are actually doing okay.” His company offers all species that are indigenous to the Southeastern United States, with Oak and Poplar being his best sellers. He noted that they handle pallet grade through Face with a primary thickness of 4/4. He sells to end users and pallet manufacturers. “We are often able to tell how the economy is doing based on how the pallet manufacturers are doing, and I just recently had a pallet customer tell me that their business has slowed down and that they were not going to need as much product as usual,” he said. “We have had such an amazing last three years and we are at a point where we think we could be doing better than we are, but we have become accustomed to a different marketplace since the pandemic,” he continued. A lumber salesman from North Carolina said that his sales have started to quiet down. “We are still shipping and I am optimistic about this fall, however the winter may be a different story,” he added. Please turn to page 47 Quality. Consistency. The best that money can buy. We specialize and manufacture Northern Appalachian kiln dried hardwoods such as Walnut, Red Oak, White Oak, Cherry, Ash, Hard and Soft Maple. Call us today! 570-836-1133 | Fax: 570-836-8982 3042 SR 6E Tunkhannock, PA 18657 www.deerparklumberinc.com 44 NOVEMBER 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry NOVEMBER 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 45
