After widespread sawmill curtailments and closures in 2025, alongside a significant reduction in imports from Canada and Europe, supply is aligning more closely with underlying demand. Sawmill operating rates have improved and prices have gradually recovered from the lows seen last year. Yet rebalancing has not made the market easier to navigate. Instead, buyers, sawmill operators and construction market participants face a new challenge: understanding how rising costs, housing weakness, trade policy and broader economic trends are influencing the market simultaneously. One of the most important distinctions in the current market is that stronger prices do not automatically mean stronger demand. The key implication: Markets can experience higher prices even when demand remains relatively subdued, particularly when supply has contracted faster than consumption. …Energy costs, housing affordability and AI-related infrastructure investment are creating new pressures across the wood products supply chain.