MAYFAIR MARKET UPDATE

Happy St Paddy’s day.

Here is what is happening in commodities this week.

Lumber…….A standoff is a good way to describe this week. On one hand you have buyers sensing that there is a market correction coming and on the other hand you have mills with order files and shipping delays and they are holding firm on their prices.

Time will tell who blinks first but many yards need to buy wood now so chances are mills will be able to wait the buyers out. Order files are early April to late April depending on the mill and the items.

Pricing has been flat for the most part with the odd load coming to the market at a small discount. We still have the CP rail strike to think about. CP will lock workers out by Sunday night if they can’t reach an agreement.

As mentioned last week the feds should step in but let’s hope that does not come into the equation. Overall demand in North America remains good so how much downside could there be?

Plywood….Not much change from last week. Mills files are Mid to late April and pricing has been flat at the mill level. Shipping is easing somewhat and distribution yards are now receiving Dec/ Jan shipments and have a little stock on ground to sell.

Premiums on distribution wood have also eased giving buyers a sense that the market is softening. That is not really the truth, replacement has not changed at the mill level only the mindset of the distributors has changed.

Watch for plywood to remain flat for a couple more weeks yet as there are still plenty of late shipping loads.

OSB…..Order Files are mid to late April. There has been a shift in pricing with one of the majors going to market at print net, that offering did not generate much response.

Distribution has also seen pricing roll back as demand for OSB has slowed due to the fact the yards now have plywood to offer and plywood is more cost effective than OSB.

Little to early to tell just how this will all play out. Another major producer will have downtime in April so we will see if that downtime has much of an impact.

Enjoy a green beer today but not too many it is a school night!

Have a great week and happy selling.