Hello and welcome to Lumber News for April 13 2026. We would like to begin this edition of Lumber News with what everyone is talking about – trucking.

The trucking shortage across the nation is still the hottest topic in the lumber world this week and many are now calling it a crisis. Ready truck loads remain sitting at mills as brokers struggle to find trucks to ship those loads at reasonable rates.

Demand continues across all species, driving prices upwards as we get into prime building season.

SYP

Another very strong week in SYP as nearly all dimensions increased between $15 and $20/mbf.

Prices are likely nearing their peaks for the spring but we may still have $20 to $50/mbf left to increase depending on how sustainable the spring demand is.

Again, we want to stress that lead times continue to grow as the trucking crisis worsens. At our sister lumber yard, we are buying trucks with anticipation we will not see them for another 3 to 4 weeks.

Low grade SYP is still on the rise as well and will hopefully only have 1 to 2 more weeks of price increases. It is just as likely to plateau and stay at the premium rates it is currently sitting at.

SPF

There was an announcement about the duties applied to Canadian lumber being decreased last week. Although the actual decrease was less than a point, it seemed to soften the price increases.

There was still a $5/mbf increase in SPF last week, but SPF is still looking better and better in light of SYP price increases over the past 2 months.

OSB

Surprisingly, the only demand that still seems to be in a slump is in OSB. This is due to many buyers stocking up to their limits earlier in the year when prices hit the bottom. Prices are still soft and mills are happy to take offers on volume orders. 

Thanks for listening to Lumber News. Call us at 606.547.4455 to have us price a load for you.