Northeast Business
Northeast Business Trends By Sue Putnam Editorial Director The market was robust in the Northeast recently with one company reporting softness. In Massachusetts, one lumber company’s spokesperson observed, “The market is strong. We’ve had a lot of rain up here which has slowed down the momentum until the weather cleared and then activity picked right back up again. We’re having certainly one of the best years we’ve seen since pre-recession. Everything is pretty strong and pretty steady. We’re doing better than six months ago, but traditionally that would always be the case. December is a slower time.” The company handles Eastern White Pine and Western Red Cedar in knotty and clear grades in 4/4, 5/4 and 8/4 primarily. Customers include distribution and industrial manufacturers. “Primarily, everyone is doing very well,” she said. “This time of year, there is a little bit of a slowdown head- Continued on page 37 Inland West Business Trends By Terry Miller President Recently, the market in the Inland West was reported by sources as strong in some places and soft in others. In Montana, a lumber provider stated, “It is very soft, not much going on. We’re very quiet. Last year, everybody feared that the last stick had been cut so they kept buying inventory. I think they got fooled. So, people are really playing their buying habits close to the vest, and they’re not bringing in any more inventory than they absolutely need. That’s what I gather. In a nutshell, they’re just not buying over what their needs are.” The market was worse, he said, than six months earlier. The company carries Ponderosa Pine, ESLP boards and SPF select structural. “We carry lots of species and grades,” he noted. The company sells mostly to distributors. “From what I can gather,” he stated, “they feel a little bit of the pinch. Last year, we were busy, busy, busy. And this year, prices are down even though production is off. I don’t think the consumption is out there. His customers mentioned that they are down a bit from last year, too.” In Arizona, a lumber supplier observed that the housing market was very busy, but, “The sales side is still kind of soft because everybody bought very heavy in the first quarter and couldn’t build as much. So, there’s more wood in the distribution channel than needs to be at this moment. House construction is good but not as good as normal for us this time of year.” He explained that recently the market was about the same as six months earlier. He said his company was at “a nice, even keel.” This company handles No. 2 Common Douglas Fir, Spruce, Inland White Fir and White Fir. Customers are other lumberyards that distribute. “Everybody says they have a lot of business, a lot of jobs coming up,” he said. “Most of them are busy now with jobs. Our market is very busy on both residential and commercial right now. The only reason it’s not so great for us specifically is that a lot of people bought heavily in the spring and couldn’t use all the wood they bought because of weather. They Continued on page 49 Page 28 Softwood Forest Products Buyer n July/August 2019
Midwest Business Trends By Paul Miller Jr. Vice President As we know from the news, the weather has been wet in the Midwest recently. In some places, the market was down with potential for better business. In other areas, business was good. In Iowa, the scene of flooding earlier, the ground was still drenched. “Everyone’s waiting for a drought,” said a lumber provider in Iowa. There is strength in the market, “We just haven’t been able to get it going yet due to weather delays. There’s a lot of pent-up demand in the pipeline. So, things aren’t getting out like they want to in commercial and residential. It is totally wet. There are some areas where they are able to move some dirt and get some foundations in. That’s usually on high ground. But anything going down the hill, you’re digging and they’re running into water all the time. It’s just a saturated ground situation right now. Today we had rain, and yesterday we had rain, stuff like that. We just can’t seem to get the season into second or third gear right now. Other than that, the want or need, what’s on people’s books, they feel very confident and they’re telling us there’s a lot of activity ready to go; we’ve just got to get it going.” Recently, he said it was 49 degrees and rainy with winds of 30 to 40 mph. “I haven’t seen this kind of weather this deep in the summer, not in my 20 some-odd years that I can remember off-hand.” The company sells Hem Fir select structural, Southern Pine plywood, Fir plywood and OSB products. Lumberyards throughout the Midwest are their customers. He said people in metropolitan areas are busier than farmers, affected by corn and soybean prices. In Missouri, the weather – and sales – were similar. “In late April we started gaining momentum and the market seemed busy,” said a spokesman for a lumber company. “We had a dry spell, so it worked out. But then the monsoon season kind of set in here. It’s not good. I was talking to some rebar guys I know and they’re way behind schedule. Until the rebar starts going in for the foundation, it’s going to be a while till the wood starts going out, too. Right now, it’s not great. This time of year, it should be a lot busier.” Nevertheless, business was 20 percent West Coast Business Trends By Zach Miller Several recent mill closures in both British Columbia and Oregon along with production curtailments from major producers has not translated to higher framing lumber prices as of this writing. Cedar producers are starting to see stabilizing pricing which they hope will translate to some consistency in the marketplace. Weather has been an issue as usual, and this year’s fire season seems to be ramping up with over 16,000 fires counted in 2019 so far (down roughly 9,000 from this same period in 2018). The following is what a few manufacturers had to say about west coast market conditions: Dean Garofano of Delta Cedar Specialties, Delta, BC said, “It has been a very sluggish start to the year and the anticipated surge Continued on page 52 Continued on page 52 Softwood Forest Products Buyer n July/August 2019 Page 29
