Softwood Lumber Prices Slip a Little More
The latest Producer Price Index report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a steady August to September pricing, with the PPI for final demand unchanged in September (when seasonally adjusted).
Despite this, there’s a major change at the top of HBSDealer’s PPI tracker, which has Plywood displacing softwood lumber as the year-over-year deflation leader. Previously, softwood had been leading the category for over a year.
As reported by HBSDealer, an independent tally from the industry group, Associated Builders and Contractors, found input prices decreased by 0.9% in September compared to the previous month. Nonresidential construction input prices also declined 0.9% during that period.
According to HBSDealer, “Certain materials, like gypsum, fabricated structural-metal products, asphalt and lumber exhibited sizable price increases for the month. While domestic freight rates are low by historical standards, elevated global container-shipping rates and emerging supply chain issues could put upward pressure on materials prices in the coming months. This represents a cause for concern for contractors, many of whom expect their profit margins to contract over the next six months.”
