What is going on with wood prices right now

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shed9

establiSHED member
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In a forest in Wales
What just happened?

Wood prices have shot up literally within the last few days, CLS has pretty much doubled and I'm seeing other construction lumber having similar increases. What did I miss?
 
All connected to what's occuring I imagine. Or your supplier is short on stock and wants to make a decent wedge on whats left, or yor supplier knows they are the only place for miles with any stock and wants to make a decent wedge.
 
Yeah but CLS has been fairly stable up until recently, in fact I've gotten some of the best prices I've had for the last few years in the last year alone.

My brother in law runs a jacksons depot. Says there is a general shortage of materials and a very high demand. So capitalism dictates low supply, high demand, make hay while the sun is shining etc. If the question is why is the supply low I think we can pick our poison, covid, brexit, none inclusive Royal family, could be any of them!!

I had noticed cls price a week or so back as I was considering building a new workbench for the garage. Put the idea on hold when I saw the increase in price.
 
I was notified Oak was going up 15% last week.
I know there’s been a shortage of construction grade timber for a little while,my supplier has only been selling this type of timber to regular customers & account holders for a while now
 
I had noticed cls price a week or so back as I was considering building a new workbench for the garage. Put the idea on hold when I saw the increase in price.
Same here, went to order some for a small outdoor project and thought better of it.
 
Agree prices have gone up but to all those putting off jobs because of the price increase, how long do you wait before buying your wood. Once prices go up they take ages to stabilise or if lucky go down to previous levels. There is more chance of the price going higher rather than lower . Buying now at today's prices may be better than waiting for a price drop .:unsure:
 
Agree prices have gone up but to all those putting off jobs because of the price increase, how long do you wait before buying your wood. Once prices go up they take ages to stabilise or if lucky go down to previous levels. There is more chance of the price going higher rather than lower . Buying now at today's prices may be better than waiting for a price drop .:unsure:
True, but the new prices cannot be sustainable for too long, as many delaying builds, will cause over stocks, so a surplus of dead stock sitting around getting warped, damp and deteriorating, which no one wants. As was said by other reply, its capitalism in reverse! Saturated market need to clear overstocks, price forced down, purchasing begins again.
 
Agree prices have gone up but to all those putting off jobs because of the price increase, how long do you wait before buying your wood. Once prices go up they take ages to stabilise or if lucky go down to previous levels. There is more chance of the price going higher rather than lower . Buying now at today's prices may be better than waiting for a price drop .:unsure:

Smart money is on Q4 this year or early next year before prices stabilise or start to ease off but this remains to be seen.
 
I went to my local fencing company earlier today. They've had a big issues with concrete products for six months or so, but he said they will run out of timber products soon as well. He seemed a bit gloomy, as you would.
 
I have friends in Australia and they've told me timber prices have got crazy there in the last few months. So you can probably rule out brexit as the cause.
 
Just been forced to order a load of posts and panels by SWMBO who is fed up of looking at our collapsing fence. 9 bays is costing me almost as much as I paid for 17 bays 2years ago and that’s with 3 posts over ordered last time making up the number this time 😱
 
I was informed by my local timber merchant at the back end of last year that timber prices would increase in the Spring due to the Chinese buying up all available stocks in the futures market.
They apparently have a huge shortfall in home grown timber compared to demand, so they are buying it up from everywhere and companies are inflating the price to capitalise on the demand.
 
True, but the new prices cannot be sustainable for too long, as many delaying builds, will cause over stocks, so a surplus of dead stock sitting around getting warped, damp and deteriorating, which no one wants. As was said by other reply, its capitalism in reverse! Saturated market need to clear overstocks, price forced down, purchasing begins again.
I don't see that happening any time soon. It'll probably take most places 6 months after lockdown ends to fill orders and fully restock... and eventually people who are waiting for prices to come down are going to have to buy so there will be that additional pent up demand as soon as prices fall even a little.
 
Jewsons increased prices in january, i just had an email saying its going up again, around 10%..... and then theres the ship in the suez.... global shipping is slowing right now and it could be a couple of weeks before the ship is free, then all the backed up supplies will have to filter through. Could get worse......

The initial increases are likely due to the pandemic and increased demand from the u.s plus fuel going up to nakd back their losses?
 
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