Our commodity plywood markets have been mostly flat, with spot discounting, over the past couple of weeks. Severe winter weather in late January going into February – across a large swath of the country and in several waves – sapped strength out of the marketplace.
Shipments ground to a standstill for a prolonged period of time in some areas, and the effects were felt in commodity lumber and panel markets. Subsequently, prices went lower in an uneven fashion, for most markets. Western plywood markets lost about 8 to 10% off of their last highs.
But recently, things have started to look up. Prices have begun to stabilize, and it seems like the excess wood that mills had is getting more manageable.
Canadian Plywood bottomed out and firmed up a couple weeks ago. OSB, in the west, did the same. Pine Plywood is also finding its balance, with prices adjusting a bit more predictably.
Now, with March just around the corner and the weather warming up, people are starting to get back into the swing of things. We’re seeing more requests for quotes, and projects that were on hold are now kicking off. Buyers are getting interested again since inventories are still pretty low.
March and April can be difficult months for wood commodities, but there’s a sense of optimism this time. If the weather stays mild and wood can be delivered without any hitches, we’re expecting businesses to pick up. Keep an eye on how much wood is moving – it’s always a good indicator of what’s to come. We’re hopeful that our market will continue to improve in the near term.
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