June Arrived To Forest Products And Building Materials Industry Folks
Acknowledging The Reality Of Ongoing Tight Supply.
The rapidly increasing transportation costs only made the difficulty of
sourcing solid wood products at lower prices more severe. Customers with the
mentality of prior economics found themselves stymied by sellers who refused
even small counter-offers. As sawmill order files ranged into the end of
this month, lumber producers were unwilling to offer discounts.
The now-entrenched practice of not stocking inventory came to a head in
mid-June as a bullish movement of lumber Futures caused more customers to
place orders, since they felt confirmed that prices would not go lower soon.
Continued production cuts and lean supply resulted in a lack of available
prompt wood.
As such, customers scrambled to contact all their various sources in search
of the products they needed. Often to come up short, and have to wait longer
for their new orders to arrive.
In the week ending June 12, 2026, the price of benchmark softwood lumber
item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$490 mfbm.
This was flat from the previous week, said weekly forest products industry
price guide newsletter Madison’s Lumber Reporter.
That week’s price was flat from one month ago.
Compared to the same week last year, when it was us$462 mfbm, the price of
western spruce-pine-fir 2×4 #2&btr kd (rl) for the week ending June 12, 2026
was up +$28, or +6%.
Compared to two years ago when it was $384, that week’s price was up +$106,
or +28%.
Northwestern and Southern lumber item prices showed positive trends,
while Coastal species (Hemlock and Douglas Fir KD) prices were flat by
comparison.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
Buyers of Western-SPF in the US had difficulty finding wood at the sawmill
level, especially for specific mixes on clearcut timelines.
Western-SPF sellers in Canada were encouraged by several trends which seemed
to point to an upward price trajectory.
Discounted materials were not as prevalent and delivery timelines weren’t as
flexible as in recent weeks.
Commodity prices continued to show firmness while freight costs marched
upward.
Any product that landed in vendor yards was spoken for almost immediately.
The undersupplied state of the Eastern-SPF market was exposed in a big way
as buyers increasingly saw no-quotes from sawmills.
Suppliers of Southern Yellow Pine reported every order was a tug of war.
Eastern Stocking Wholesalers remained in the ongoing situation of limited
supply running up against anemic demand.
MADISON’S BENCHMARK TOP-SIX SOFTWOOD LUMBER AND PANEL PRICES: MONTHLY
AVERAGES
Source: madisonsreport.com
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