NEWPORT, Rhode Island — …Lumber consumption along Rhode Island’s coast, as elsewhere in the U.S., has exceeded even optimistic forecasts, leaving home builders, retailers and craftspeople… clamoring for wood. Saw mills are having a hard time keeping up. Prices for wood products are hitting records all over the country. …“Our sales folks are spending three, four, five hours a day, dealing with customers that don’t have any inventory,” said Christopher McIver, VP at West Fraser Timber, North America’s largest lumber producer. …Futures for September delivery ended Friday at $585.80 per thousand board feet, up from $259.80 on April 1. Even futures contracts for lumber that won’t be delivered until 2021 are trading above $500. …Random Lengths said Thursday that its Framing Lumber Composite price surged further into record territory at $627 per thousand board feet. The $40 weekly jump was the largest since Random Lengths started keeping track in 1995. [We respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access may require a subscription]