Softwood Lumber Demand Continues to Remain High in the U.S. and Canada

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The demand for softwood lumber continues to remain high in the U.S. and Canada, says the latest Madison’s Lumber Reporter. The trade expects no decrease in lumber prices in the immediate future.

The price of the benchmark lumber commodity Western Spruce-Pine-Fir KD 2x4 #2&Btr stood at US$992 mfbm during the week ended February 12, 2021. The prices edged past the all-time high of US$966 mfbm recorded in August last year. Also, this is almost 147% higher when compared to the price one-year-ago. The prices of framing lumber hit $975 per thousand board feet, skyrocketing by 180% from the prices of $350 per thousand board feet in April last year.

Incidentally, the U.S. lumber prices have surged higher by more than 180% since last spring.

The estimates by National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicate that the price of an average new single-family home has increased by $24,386 since April 17, 2020. Also, surge in lumber prices has resulted in increase in the market value of the average new multifamily home by $8,998 over the same period.

Meantime, the latest US housing starts data suggests solid increase in single-family building permits, thus pointing to robust demand from construction sector during spring.

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