SPF

We are still seeing the ripples from last weeks announcement from President Trump that Canadian lumber being imported into the US would gain another 10% tariff beginning on October 14^th. This announcement spiked prices over night but by the end of the week we only saw around a $6/mbf increase. This week SPF increased by $10/mbf. It is likely that SPF will continue on this path through the fall and into early winter for multiple reasons.

We had mentioned in past editions of Lumber News about many Canadian mills formally announcing the decrease in production for the rest of the year, some up to 20% less. We are already seeing an increase in lead times as prompt loads in SPF become less and less available. This will inevitably keep prices at minimum on a steady increase as supply stays tight.

16’ lengths did take on $15/mbf and $20/mbf increases. All other lengths in SPF increased around $10/mbf.

2×4 studs rose $10/mbf as well but 2×6 studs surprisingly did not move.

SYP

The next two to three weeks will likely say a lot about how the SYP market will look for the remainder of the year.  SYP prices have now increased for four weeks straight; if they maintain increases for another three weeks, we think prices will remain steady for the remainder of the year. But it is possible that they begin coming back down as they did in July when prices rose very little for four weeks straight but could not maintain the momentum.

2x4s, 6s, and 8s all rose around $10/mbf this week while 2x10s hardly moved and 2x12s rose only $5/mbf.

OSB

For the first week in over three months, we finally saw signs of life in the OSB market as prices rose around $5/msf this week. We are still seeing many deals hovering around the $8 to $9/msf range for 7/16. Subfloor supply does seem to be tightening as well.