Yellow Balau

You didn’t need to be a design-build contractor to hear about soaring lumber prices over the last year. It was national news and talk on the street as costs of lumber skyrocketed by more than 170% between April 2020 and mid-September, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). It reached an all-time high at $1515 per thousand board feet this past May, but has fallen 68% since then according to Fortune magazine. But Bank of America and other sources warn that lumber costs could rise again over the next few weeks. The reason? Two possible causes could be the weather, says BofA. Like 2020, wildfires could impact supply (see below) and the upcoming hurricane season could cause demand spikes. Besides lumber, other supplies needed to complete projects were also in short supply. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index (CCI) over 70% of contractors experienced a shortage of at least one material and over 30% reported a shortage of lumber during the 4th quarter of 2020. Akin to Turf’s recent article on a plant shortages report, causes were both general (a shortage of labor in manufacturing; shipping issues; and a frenzy of home projects inspired by stay-at-home pandemic mandates) and industry specific. In the lumber industry, 2020’s wildfires in the Northwest greatly reduced the high-grade lumber supplies produced in states like Oregon and Washington. Other supply chains were equally challenged. Fires also ravaged South America’s tropical forests; and the Canadian lumber industry continued to battle ...