US timber prices hit record high again

Softwood timber and panel (plywood and OSB) prices rose by even more the week of May 7 than they did the week before, indicating that demand for construction framing wood products is not slowing down.

In the week ending May 7, 2021, the wholesaler price of benchmark softwood timber commodity item Western S-P-F KD 2×4 #2&Btr was $1,550 mfbm. This is up by +$130, or +8.4%, from the previous week when it was $1,420. That week’s price is up by +$320, or +26%, from one month ago when it was $1,230.

Trading of timber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reached a fever pitch toward the close of the existing contract, which expires May 15. Prices of timber futures had soared to $1,700, and have since been correcting downward. Meanwhile, in 89% of US metro areas, median house prices have risen by more than +10% from a year earlier, reported Redfin this week. As home the selling, buying, and moving, season comes upon us, the expectation is for housing construction — thus timber prices — to remain high at least in the short term.