Framing lumber composite price in North America
USD/mbf
USD/m 3
EUR/m 3
USD
EUR
1700
1700
1500
1500
1300
1300
1100
1100
900
900
700
700
500
500
300
300
100
100
1-2020
1-2021
1-2022
Source: Random Lengths, Metsä Fibre
Furthermore, sawn timber is also traded speculatively in the United States, in the same way as commodities like metals or agricultural products. Lumber futures on the New York Stock Exchange are an example of this. Trade is also affected by politics Morten Bergsten , CEO at Danish-based Bergsten Timber, has been monitoring the international market for sawn timber since the mid-1980s. He too thinks that predicting price developments is increasingly challenging. “One reason is that the sawn timber market has become more global. In response to supply and demand, there is now much more international trade in sawn timber than in the past,” he explains. In addition to the traditional laws of supply and demand, prices are influenced by many other factors. These include measures to
“In the long term, the price of wood may be affected by climate change.”
Tuomo Neuvonen Project Manager at Fastmarkets FOEX, which provides price indices for the forest industry. Since 2018, Neuvonen has been responsible for compiling export price indices for sawn timber.
Antti Koskinen Manager at AFRY Management Consulting who has been monitoring the forest industry for more than two decades.
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