{"id":35845,"date":"2021-02-18T13:49:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T18:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=35845"},"modified":"2021-02-19T17:37:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T22:37:16","slug":"covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Doug Ford, left, Curtis Lumber vice president, and Bob Eakin, director of sales.
\u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf
\nThe timber industry has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 and according to the National Association of Home Builders, lumber prices have risen by 130 percent since April.
\nThe price increase is attributed to various factors, including supply chain disruptions and material shortages. As a result of the pandemic, many lumber producers were forced to close temporarily or operate at reduced capacity. Social distancing protocol made it difficult for plants to produce at pre-pandemic levels and increased operating costs.
\nPrior to the pandemic, lumber supplies and pricing had already been impacted by tariffs that were imposed on wood being imported from Canada. The tariffs are as high as 20 percent for treated lumber.
\n\u201cThe import duty or tariff that has been placed on Canadian lumber that is coming into the United States is so high that the Canadians are shipping wood to other areas rather than the U.S.,\u201d said Doug Ford, vice president of sales and purchasing at Curtis Lumber. \u201cThe tariff was increased within the last year or two, and it\u2019s put Canada in a position that they would rather sell it to someone else.\u201d
\nAccording to Ford, Canadian tariffs and COVID-related slowdowns are not the only causes for skyrocketing lumber prices. Demand for lumber is unusually high due to a single-family home construction boom occurring throughout the country.
\n\u201cSingle-family home construction in the northeast was up 24 percent in 2020. That\u2019s a lot of houses being built,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rest of the country is also up double digits as well, but the northeast is leading the way right now.\u201d
\nDemand for lumber has also increased due to a dramatic increase in the number of home improvement projects that homeowners embarked on during the pandemic. Many homeowners are using stimulus money or money that was budgeted for travel or vacations to make home improvements.
\n\u201cPeople are working from home and staying home, so rather than taking a vacation, they are doing things like adding a deck \u201d said Ford. \u201cThat has driven up the usage significantly. And people who are planning on continuing to work from home are adding additional space to their homes. Then you have commercial spaces like restaurants that are adding outdoor space to be able to seat more people.\u201d
\nThe supply shortages and price increases are being felt at all levels of the lumber industry.
\nAl Petteys, owner of A. Petteys Lumber, operates a sawmill and lumber yard in Fort Ann. The sawmill and lumber business is considered essential, and he was able to keep his sawmill open and his three employees working throughout the pandemic.
\nThe cost of his raw materials increased by 20 percent, forcing Petteys to increase prices by the same amount. Despite the increases, he saw increased demand for products during the summer.
\n\u201cWe sold a lot more because your regular lumber yards (prices) were so high and people were looking to get it somewhere cheaper,\u201d he said. \u201cRough lumber is cheaper than lumber you would get somewhere like Lowes or Home Depot. Every time lumber passes hands, the middle men gets another hand in it.\u201d
\nAlthough business has slowed because of winter weather, Petteys has yet to see raw material prices decline. He is concerned that the recent shut down of the Keystone Pipeline (an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010) will lead to additional price increases.
\nAt Burgoyne Lumber and Hardware in Hudson Falls, general manager Dave Nester said prices have increased for almost all building materials. Lumber prices have seen the most dramatic increases. As an example, he said the price of some types of spruce have almost doubled. The cost of plywood has risen by more than $10 per sheet.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a whole new world out there right now,\u201d said Nester. \u201cBecause of COVID-19, there is a shortage of employees at mills and suppliers. There is now a shortage of materials out there which is causing the price of lumber and other building materials to be astronomically high right now. And to find product is a real chore. I spend three hours of my day trying to find something that used to take five minutes to find. It\u2019s horrible.\u201d
\nShipments have been delayed and delivery estimates have become increasingly unreliable. This impacts not just lumber but many additional building materials. Nester listed roofing shingles and fiberglass insulation as examples of other products that are difficult to procure.
\n\u201cThe supply chain is fragmented, and we are seeing lead times from three weeks to eight weeks,\u201d said Ford. \u201cIt\u2019s very unpredictable and we can\u2019t count on product arriving at a certain time.\u201d
\nDespite the price increases, lumber sales have remained strong and demand continues to outweigh supply. At both Curtis and Burgoyne, high lumber prices have not resulted in slowed sales.
\n\u201cLumber is up almost double what it was a year ago, and in some particular cases, more than that,\u201d said Ford. \u201cThe ironic part is that our sales were up last year. That\u2019s because we sell product that goes into homes, and that\u2019s what people are spending their money on.\u201d
\nBoth Ford and Nester said its important for customers to understand that lumber yards have no control over the prices. They have no choice but to pass on the increases to the consumer.
\n\u201cPeople complain about the price, which I understand,\u201d said Nester. \u201cBut it\u2019s not price gauging on our end of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf The timber industry has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 and according to the National Association of Home Builders, lumber prices have risen by 130 percent since April. The price increase is attributed to various factors, including supply chain disruptions and material shortages. As a result of the pandemic, many lumber producers were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":35846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-construction-planning"],"yoast_head":"\r\nCOVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf The timber industry has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 and according to the National Association of Home Builders, lumber prices have risen by 130 percent since April. The price increase is attributed to various factors, including supply chain disruptions and material shortages. As a result of the pandemic, many lumber producers were […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-18T18:49:23+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-19T22:37:16+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1518\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1088\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/\",\"name\":\"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-18T18:49:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-19T22:37:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1088,\"caption\":\"Doug Ford, left, Curtis Lumber vice president, and Bob Eakin, director of sales. \u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\",\"name\":\"jessewinters\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jessewinters\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal","og_description":"By Christine Graf The timber industry has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 and according to the National Association of Home Builders, lumber prices have risen by 130 percent since April. The price increase is attributed to various factors, including supply chain disruptions and material shortages. As a result of the pandemic, many lumber producers were […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/","og_site_name":"Saratoga Business Journal","article_published_time":"2021-02-18T18:49:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-19T22:37:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1518,"height":1088,"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jessewinters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jessewinters","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/","name":"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High - Saratoga Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-18T18:49:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-19T22:37:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/02\/timber-story-hc.jpg","width":1518,"height":1088,"caption":"Doug Ford, left, Curtis Lumber vice president, and Bob Eakin, director of sales. \u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/02\/covid-other-factors-push-lumber-price-increases-but-sales-figures-are-still-high\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"COVID, Other Factors Push Lumber Price Increases, But Sales Figures Are Still High"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/","name":"Saratoga Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae","name":"jessewinters","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jessewinters"},"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35847,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35845\/revisions\/35847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}