Lumber prices and alternatives

Our wholesalers are calling us a lot to try and sell us lumber which was not happening four weeks ago. Our wholesale is down 35% or so but you won’t see that much of a drop as the retailers will hang onto the higher prices as long as possible. We cut our prices to move some of the older stuff and get us ready to buy at the better prices coming.
 
sammi_davis said:
Our wholesalers are calling us a lot to try and sell us lumber which was not happening four weeks ago. Our wholesale is down 35% or so but you won’t see that much of a drop as the retailers will hang onto the higher prices as long as possible. We cut our prices to move some of the older stuff and get us ready to buy at the better prices coming.
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Same here.
Lead times for truckloads went from 12 days to 2-3.
I'm selling at replacement cost and taking a loss on slow movers. The sooner I get them outta here, I can use that $$$ to secure higher margin items.
 
Prices dropped again. Y'all look for yards selling at replacement cost instead of based off what they paid for material
2x6 SYP is literally 1/2 what it cost 3 weeks ago (550/m vs 1090/m)
 
Is construction slowing down, or did the lumber mills just catch up? Or is it some of both?
 
It sounds like a wood pole garage is back in the running
 
drkelly said:
Is construction slowing down, or did the lumber mills just catch up? Or is it some of both?
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Mills caught up at the same time seasonal demand started to slow.
Prices to the user will depend on how the dealer bases their pricing however.
OSB, 2x4 and engineered items are still quite high.
 
There is a 5000+sf house going up near me. First floor and part of the 2nd is framed out. Then work stopped. Have not seen anybody there working in the last 2 weeks (and it's been perfect weather for getting framing done and dried in). Either the framing crew got sent to another project, or more likely, they saw a downward move coming, and decided to sit a couple or three weeks.

I'd hate to be building anything this year.
 
kaiser715 said:
There is a 5000+sf house going up near me. First floor and part of the 2nd is framed out. Then work stopped. Have not seen anybody there working in the last 2 weeks (and it's been perfect weather for getting framing done and dried in). Either the framing crew got sent to another project, or more likely, they saw a downward move coming, and decided to sit a couple or three weeks.

I'd hate to be building anything this year.
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2 weeks of good weather. id be pissed as the owner or GC that hired the crew. we had to take a class a couple weeks ago and most mold issues in a house starts by not getting stuff dried in fast enough at least what the class said.
 
@Jody Treadway .....have prices stabilized for the time being are are they still on on the high side?
 
89wrangler said:
@Jody Treadway .....have prices stabilized for the time being are are they still on on the high side?
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Curious as well

With toilet paper panic returning, and meat prices going back up (apparently the 2 are connected SOMEHOW, as my beef jerky making buddy is experiencing the same meat price hikes that he did last TP hoarding time)
 
Jokes aside, dimensional lumber has and is continuing to drop in cost. It is not so far from wher eit was pre-Covid. Some items like 2x4 SYP and SPF as well as OSB and subfloor remain higher than they should. Most plywood panels have dropped to reasonable prices as well.
The movements aren't sizeable anymore. So they may drop or increase a little for a bit.
Industry insiders predict a democratic economy will slow construction which will likely increase short term supply and drop prices more.
 
Damn I need several OSB sheets for my basement flooring. Was waiting for it to go down :(
 
Jody Treadway said:
Depends.
Are you gonna buy from me or just dip into my vast wealth of knowledge?
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I guess wealth of knowledge. Figured you were in the wholesale market and not wanting to mess with a few 2x6's. But on that note, we currently do order truck load of 1x4x16's and 2x4x16's at a time at the plant.....
 
89wrangler said:
I guess wealth of knowledge. Figured you were in the wholesale market and not wanting to mess with a few 2x6's. But on that note, we currently do order truck load of 1x4x16's and 2x4x16's at a time at the plant.....
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Just playin' with ya.
Put the purchasing rep in touch with me. We service your area frequently.
 
Just got my weekly wholesale pricing reports from my treating and SYP mills.
2x4 dropped another $25/MBF which equates to $0.02 per lin/ft. All other dimensional sizes stayed the same or went up $10-15/MBF. Panel prices went up $5-10/MBF, or about $0.30 per sheet. That shows me the market has about reached it's bottom for a while.
2x4 may drop a little more, but only because it was so insanely inflated to begin with.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Just got my weekly wholesale pricing reports from my treating and SYP mills.
2x4 dropped another $25/MBF which equates to $0.02 per lin/ft. All other dimensional sizes stayed the same or went up $10-15/MBF. Panel prices went up $5-10/MBF, or about $0.30 per sheet. That shows me the market has about reached it's bottom for a while.
2x4 may drop a little more, but only because it was so insanely inflated to begin with.
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Just wait until January 20....Biden will get those lumber prices down..
 
@Jody Treadway

Wanting to put up about ~130' of standard 6' dog eared privacy fence across the back of my lot, but this thread has me worried about inflated prices. Project is not urgent, just tired of looking at the back of my neighbors fence that is slowly falling apart.

So the question is, should I keep waiting or have prices leveled out yet?
 
Prices dropped like mad in late Nov to early December.
Then major purchasing groups bought nearly all available stock while prices were low. Couple that with Mills shutting down for maintenance the last 2 weeks of December and prices have risen nearly 50 percent in 3 weeks. Again.
It'll be a while before they correct...
 
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