Latest News
4th Quarter 2012 TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link. Dr. Jacobson's comments: Lumber prices are bouncing back as the housing market picks up, but the stumpage and log prices are lagging a little. However, there is positive, albeit small, price increases for most of our species. As lumber demand picks up further expect mills to replenish inventories and expand production. Then prices should trickle down to the stump.
3rd Quarter TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link. Dr. Jacobson's comments: Not much change since last quarter but if since housing starts and renovations are on the rise we should start to see the market pick up. I am hearing that sales are competitive reflecting mills wanting to start stocking up for increasing demand.
2nd Quarter 2012 TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link.
1st Quarter 2012 TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link.
No significant changes this quarter. Prices for the most part are remaining stable. There seems to be a slight increase in prices for higher grade material. However there is no discernible pattern as the economy struggles to recover.
The 4th quarter 2011 TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link.
This is the first quarter in while where on average most individual species prices have nudged upward since the previous quarter. The increase is minimal but it does suggest some stability in the markets as the trend is positive. Factors for this up tick include rebuilding low inventories, higher bids on public lands, and stronger export markets. Higher grade lumber is still relatively weak compared to other products.
This may be the worst I’ve seen average stumpage prices since I’ve been reporting. The Southeast remains the only bright spot. When average prices for all species in Southeast exceed those in the Northern tier counties, except for Black Cherry, we know there is a problem. The Northwest and Southwest are not only suffering from the poor economy, but the rapidly expanding natural gas industry is taking jobs and income away from the forest sector.
The 3rd quarter 2011 TMR is up and can be accessed by clicking the above link.
Although logging conditions were good, higher fuel prices along with a flat economy didn’t help the timber market. The western parts of the state see prices keep slipping while in the Northeast prices are a mixed bag. The only signs of higher than last quarter stumpage prices are in the Southeast where prices crept up. However, there is still a long way to go to get back to pre-recession price ranges.
Dr. Jacobson's new forest finance page is up! Click the news link above to visit it.
There is no distinctive pattern to short term price trends of the major species across the TMR reporting regions. In percentage change, species’ prices in the Southwest region gained the most. Timber sales as evidenced by reports coming in seem to be increasing slightly. This probably means signs of recovery as mills replenish inventories. For continuing information between price reports visit my website and blog at http://extension.psu.edu/forest-finance. Finally, we are thinking about doing away with reporting mill prices. Please drop us a note as to your thoughts on this change. Enjoy the late spring.
Timber sales are picking up, probably due to low inventories in mills, but stumpage prices remain sluggish for most species in most regions. In fact, there was quite a drop in the last quarter of 2010 for some of the major species. A number of factors are at play, some of which I have mentioned before. A growing concern is the impact of Marcellus shale gas drilling. Labor force in the timber industry is suffering to some degree as gas jobs pick up.
The Timber Market Report for the 4th quarter 2010 is up. You can use the above news link to get it directly, or browse to it from the left hand side. Thanks again to all those who contribute to the report. If you would like to contribute, please contact Kyle Kovach by email, listed under "contact us"
The newly designed and renovated TMR web site went live the end of December and the number of visitors to the site has substantially increased. We hope that are visitors can find the information they are looking for and come back to visit regularly. Thank you!
