Lumber prices had a historic run last summer. Just when we started to see some relief, the volatility has returned in recent weeks.
The Illinois Lumber and Material Dealers Association calls these prices “unprecedented.”
According to Jason Wheeler, “In terms of the high watermarks of pricing, it was in that May, June 2021 time frame, but we’ve gotten pretty close to that here in the last, you know, three, four months. I would call it pretty unprecedented. You know, we’ve been in business for 45 years, my father’s been buying and selling lumber for more than 45 years. He has said that he has never seen anything like it, and when I talk to our suppliers, when I talk to the folks that have been, you know, buying and selling these products for literally decades, every single person-- it’s not like ‘Oh man, it’s a tough time'-- every single person says year, this is the wildest I’ve ever seen it, that these are the biggest numbers I’ve ever seen, and you know, that’s something you’ve just gotta right through.”
While the lumber market has already been volatile for a long while, the organization does not see these prices normalizing for another one or two years.
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