It is normal in later summer for lumber sales to be quite soft, as end-users
have usually ordered the wood they need for their construction projects.
Most thoughts were on getting in the last of seasonal holidays rather than
focussing on work.
Southern Yellow Pine lumber sellers had sent prices waffling radically
up-and-down for most of this year, in a search for what the market could
bear.
At the beginning of August the weekly price of US$475 mfbm for East Side
southern pine 2×4 landed close to the so-far annual low of $450 from the
very beginning of 2026.
This after topping out at $595 in April and again at $557 in mid-June; both
times dropping back down to the $470-level.
Toward autumn it will become clear exactly how much customers are willing to
pay for that particular species of wood.
In the week ending August 07, 2026, the price of benchmark softwood lumber
item Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) was US$516 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 up +$11, or +2%, from one month ago when it was $505.
Compared to the same week last year, when it was US$533 mfbm, the price of
Western Spruce-Pine-Fir 2×4 #2&Btr KD (RL) for the week ending August 07,
2026 was down -$17, or -3%.
Compared to two years ago when it was $354, that week’s price was up +$162,
or +46%.
Business slowed down across the North American lumber market as summer
vacations took precedence over working the phones.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
• Despite tight supply demand trailed off in a seasonally typical fashion
for Western-SPF sellers in the US.
• In Canada the sales lull for Western-SPF suppliers deepened as late-summer
vacations took precedence over work.
• Buyers were noticeably less active than in July, and those who were
engaged felt they had enough latitude to push counteroffers.
• Eastern-SPF sawmill sales lists remained thin.
• Players noted conspicuously light field inventories, thus were expecting
an interesting September from the perspective of overall availability.
• The latest slide of Southern Yellow Pine prices started in the East and
steadily spread to the Central and Western zones.
• Business in the US Northeast took a step back as extreme heat descended on
the region and jobsite activity slowed to a crawl.
MADISON’S BENCHMARK TOP-SIX SOFTWOOD LUMBER AND PANEL PRICES: MONTHLY
AVERAGES
Source: madisonsreport.com
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