Timber Prices

[oldmanriver]

Just talked with a friend that has a saw mill . I was wanting to get rid of some trees that fell in the big ice storm last year . I want the lumder but we got to talking about the price of timber . He says the big mill in town is shut down right now they can't sell what they have sawed . Red Oak is so bad they stoped taking it . He thinks it is because Russia has flooded the market . Anyone else notice this in your area . I have noticed the log trucks are not on the road like they were . We only have hard wood here no pine to speak of .

[Michael Kawalek]

Really, there is no reason to be worried about Russia. We're in the worst housing slump since the 1930's with maybe 10% of the total housing real estate in foreclosure, so why should we be building more houses? House construction is the most important consumer of wood products, so why shouldn't it be down? Expect timber sales to be non-existent till we start building houses again.
Michael

[Old Vet]

Most all the mils are ruining here but slowly. Most of them are taking the month of January off except for the sales people. Many of the cross tie mils are ruining full blast.

[Shadow]

Its called a world wide recession we are all in now. No one is building or buying like they were. You think its slow now if it does not improve its a depression and that is going to be real bad, really really bad. Just my opinion

[texican]

You're blow down timber may not have any value at all, except for firewood. Sometimes it's ok, sometimes it gets all busted up, and pretty useless as far as dimensional lumber is concerned.

I grow trees. They don't cost anything to let em keep growing, so right now, they're all safe as they can be.

I also use lumber. The prices are dropping. I want them to crash, so I can get two or three times as much wood as I would have last year. Same thing for steel... I need 40 something squares and glad I waited... maybe the prices will go below what they were several years ago.

[-TWO-]

Right now, chip (pulp) prices are at a record high. Which follows the normal trend, when lumbers down, chips are up. Kind of goes against the grain, but I see alot of beautiful saw logs going for chips. I bought some dimemsion (2X12 select) the other day & the price is down almost 20% from this time last year. One of the reasons you don't see as many log trucks on the road now, is because Sawmills typically reduce their log inventory this time of year because they have to pay taxes on the projected over run. Thats normal. The Mills that are still operating will resume buying logs around the middle of January.

[Jolly]

Tie mills down here are humming. Plywood mills and sawmills, not.

[just_sawing]

I just Dropped my price on poplar lumber 5 cents per board foot and may be able to drop another 10 cents if things keep going this way. This helps people building

[Ramblin Wreck]

I want to sell some timber to clear land for pasture, but no takers so far. Logging is slow around here for most part, but my brother just had his best month ever selling lumber from his little band saw mill. I may have to cut my timber and haul it to him to sell!

[oldmanriver]

Originally Posted by texican

You're blow down timber may not have any value at all, except for firewood. Sometimes it's ok, sometimes it gets all busted up, and pretty useless as far as dimensional lumber is concerned.

I grow trees. They don't cost anything to let em keep growing, so right now, they're all safe as they can be.

I also use lumber. The prices are dropping. I want them to crash, so I can get two or three times as much wood as I would have last year. Same thing for steel... I need 40 something squares and glad I waited... maybe the prices will go below what they were several years ago.

What are you building a factory, dance hall ??

[highlands]

The issue is that the construction starts are down. We do logging but we have done very little for the last year and a half because log prices were depressed. On the other hand our firewood prices are up. It balances. So right now we're cleaning out the wood that is not good enough quality to be cutting logs - those are still excellent for firewood and what isn't good enough for that makes great pulp for pellet stoves. The trick is not to sell into a down market, no matter what you have. To prevent that have many eggs and many baskets.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

[clovis]

I read in the WSJ that lumber prices on commodities in the future markets were way down. If I recall correctly, not only the death of building in our economy was hurting lumber prices, retailers were reluctant to order new stock.

Even though lumber prices and fuel are way down, I certainly haven't seen the retailers drop their price.

Clove

[Laura]

I have standing timber to GIVE away just to get rid of some problem trees. All I want are the problem trees gone along with the rest of them, and a bit of firewood bucked. No takers. Timber prices are so low even free timber isn't worth cutting and hauling to the mill.

[Stephen in SOKY]

And yet, I went to Lowe's last week, picked up 2X4X8's from Canada, 1/4" Luan from China and I'm not sure the origin of the drywall or OSB subfloor. How on earth can it be cheaper to import plywood & dimensional lumber than to manufacture here? Canada maybe, but shipping plywood from China?

[texican]

Originally Posted by oldmanriver

What are you building a factory, dance hall ??

I'm building a stone house, and plan on having large overhangs, especially on the south side. I'd rather not find out later that my stones or the mortar holding them together are allowing moisture to penetrate the walls... so I'm preemptively putting a lot of overhang... at least three feet and up to six feet. Also, I'm a crazy prepper, and want extra roofing 'around', in case something happens... and I can't get anymore.

[texican]

Originally Posted by Laura

I have standing timber to GIVE away just to get rid of some problem trees. All I want are the problem trees gone along with the rest of them, and a bit of firewood bucked. No takers. Timber prices are so low even free timber isn't worth cutting and hauling to the mill.

Laura, you're just about two thousand miles too far, or I'd take your problem trees, as long as there were some logs I could use.

[-TWO-]

Originally Posted by clovis

I read in the WSJ that lumber prices on commodities in the future markets were way down. If I recall correctly, not only the death of building in our economy was hurting lumber prices, retailers were reluctant to order new stock.

Even though lumber prices and fuel are way down, I certainly haven't seen the retailers drop their price.

Clove

It takes a while. The big retailers like Lowes & Home Depot still have large inventories of high priced lumber thats not moving. They have to sit on it 'till it sells at a profit. Eventually, they'll have to drop the price & sell it at a loss.
Smaller lumber yards that didn't get caught with the big inventory have dropped their prices with the futures.

[-TWO-]

Originally Posted by Laura

I have standing timber to GIVE away just to get rid of some problem trees. All I want are the problem trees gone along with the rest of them, and a bit of firewood bucked. No takers. Timber prices are so low even free timber isn't worth cutting and hauling to the mill.

This is a bad time of year to get rid of logs (for reasons stated in my previous post). Put the word out again in the spring & you won't have any problem finding a home for your wood.

[oldmanriver]

OK I was looking for some way to genirate a little money from the farm if my kids lose their jobs , Scrap metal down timber is way down cows and calfs way down no market here for firewood . Ckecking into the cross ties and also checking on mining props use to be a maket for those here .

[-TWO-]

Originally Posted by Stephen in SOKY

And yet, I went to Lowe's last week, picked up 2X4X8's from Canada, 1/4" Luan from China and I'm not sure the origin of the drywall or OSB subfloor. How on earth can it be cheaper to import plywood & dimensional lumber than to manufacture here? Canada maybe, but shipping plywood from China?

The are several factors that influence the price of domestic building materials opposed to imports. 1. Cheap raw materials, The Canadian & Chinese governments all but give timber to their lumber industries.
In the US, millions of acres of Federal timber can't be accessed due to... 2. Enviromental restrictions. In China, they don't exist. Canada, has very few compared to the US. Most folks don't realise how much these restrictions drive timber prices up. Federal, State & privately owned. 3. Cheap labor, in Chinas case.