Southwide Trends in Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices

One of the benefits of Mill2Market, Forest2Market’s lumber market pricing service, is that the data comes from actual orders and invoices—with all the detail they contain. The amount of detail allows us to get behind the volume and price data and understand who has the price power in the marketplace.

In a six-week period between the end of October and the beginning of December, for instance, approximately 70 percent of framing lumber was purchased for construction-related purposes, either by builders or retail entities selling to builders (the remainder was purchased by treaters or remanufacturers).

This allows Forest2Market to connect what we learn from the data to other market indicators. In November, for instance, the Census Bureau reported that the number of building permits and housing starts jumped in November, with permits increasing 6 percent and starts increasing nearly 9 percent.

This 9 percent increase in starts reverberated into lumber prices. Across the South, southern yellow pine #2 2x4 and 2x6 prices have gained similar ground. From October 23 through December 23, the price of southern yellow pine #2 2x4s increased nearly 10 percent or $22.86 per MBF (Figure 1). The price of #2 2x6s appreciated by nearly 9 percent, a total of $19.86 per MBF (Figure 2).