Lumber Costs Down 14% YoY

by Calculated Threat on 9/04/2023 01:10:00 PM

Right here is one other month-to-month replace on lumber costs.

SPECIAL NOTE: The CME group discontinued the Random Size Lumber Futures contract on Could sixteenth. I’ve now switched to a brand new physically-delivered Lumber Futures contract that was began in August 2022. 

Sadly, this impacts long run worth comparisons because the new contract was priced about 24% greater than the outdated random size contract for the interval each contracts have been accessible.

This graph exhibits CME random size framing futures via final August (blue), and the brand new physically-delivered Lumber Futures (LBR) contract beginning in August 2022 (Purple).

LBR is presently at $503.00 per 1000 board ft, down 14% from $585.50 a 12 months in the past.

Click on on graph for bigger picture.

There’s considerably of a seasonal demand for lumber, and lumber costs normally peak in April or Could.

We did not see a major runup in costs this Spring as a result of housing slowdown.