Chicago lumber futures retreated to around $600 per thousand board feet in September, well below a record high of $1711.2 hit in May and approaching pre-COVID levels, as the supply-demand balance corrects and as demand from the real estate and construction sectors falls. Stubbornly high housing prices continue to weigh on buyers' affordability while many customers shift to spending on services from goods following the reopening of the economy. Still, land and labor shortages persist and the recent passage of Hurricane Ida in the South of the US has raised logistical bottlenecks, with key infrastructure damaged and trucks transporting lumber either being diverted or getting delayed. At the same time, sawmills across the US and Canada have slowed output levels in response to sharp drop in prices seen between May and July.
Historically, Lumber reached an all time high of 1711.20 in May of 2021. Lumber - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on September of 2021.
Lumber is expected to trade at 811.71 USD/1000 board feet by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 1139.19 in 12 months time.