Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices Steady as Housing, Manufacturing Improves

Forests2Market Blog
May 24, 2023
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US East

SYP lumber prices have held somewhat steady across 2023 thus far. Price variance is far below the meteoric rises and falls of 2022 and 2021. Some slowing down of contraction within housing and manufacturing has likely played a role in this steadier-paced pricing. …Overall, we forecast total starts in 2023 to fluctuate to a -14.4% average relative to 2022. 2024 numbers will hit a +4.7% increase from 2023, and January-April 2025 levels will keep rising to +10.8% YTD from the year prior. Manufacturing construction is slowing down… the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) monthly sentiment survey of U.S. manufacturers reflected slower erosion in the sector during April. …In the forest products sector, numbers came down rather mixed:

  • Pulp, Paper & Allied Products +3.5% year-over-year (no change)
  • Lumber & Wood Products -0.5% (-18.3% year-over-year)
  • Softwood Lumber: -0.9% (‑49.3% year-over-year)
  • Wood Fiber: +1.1% (-0.7% year-over-year)

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