Lumber prices surge, then settle a bit

Lumber prices have surged in the past six months, which is good news for suppliers, but means higher home prices for consumers.

The Random Lengths Framing Composite price, a weighted average of 15 key lumber items, was $571 per 1,000 board feet last week, compared to $371 a year ago. That’s a 53 percent increase.

Random Lengths is a timber and lumber industry publication that has been tracking the industry for decades.

Lumber futures have also been on the rise. They topped out last month at about $640 per thousand board feet, but have since dropped to about $544.80 in most recent trading.

Even so, those futures are the highest in 10 years, fueled by U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood and a strong housing market.

But the National Association of Home Builders said the higher costs for lumber have also translated to higher costs for new home construction. They estimate that higher lumber prices have added about $9,000 onto the cost of a new home.

The Department of Commerce initially added about a 20 percent tariff on Canadian softwood, claiming the country was dumping its products onto U.S. markets. About a year ago, it added another 7.7 percent tariff on top of that.

Lumber producers in the U.S. have long complained about Canadian lumber, noting the Canadian government sets much lower fees to harvest trees than what U.S. companies pay.

Chuck Roady, vice president and general manager for F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber said that while it’s nice to see the markets upswing, the company still has problems getting enough logs from federal lands. He said the company would like to add another half-shift to its planer operation, but it’s been tough finding help as well, in the tight labor market.