Lumber Prices Slump As Historic Boom Hits A Wall
Lumber futures on Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell -3.1% to $1,284.20 per 1,000 board feet, extending last week’s first loss since January. For the last 18 trading sessions, lumber prices have come under pressure amid signs that an unprecedented rally may be waning.
Citing data from trade publication Random Lengths, CIBC analyst Hamir Patel told Bloomberg that Western spruce-pine-fir prices decreased $130, or -8.1%, compared to last week’s $1,470 per 1,000 board feet, and Southern yellow pine 2×4 lumber dropped $92, or -6.9%, to $1,236 per 1,000 board feet.
The decline comes alongside a drop in lumber futures, which have tumbled into a bear market, -25%, in recent weeks, from an all-time high reached earlier in May of around $1,711 per 1,000 board feet.