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Pallet C e nt ral • Janu a r y - Fe b r u a r y 2 0 26 37 search altogether. is struggle isn't just anecdotal; it shows up in the data, too. In 1991, the median age of first-time homebuyers was 28 years old. Last year, the median age was 38. In a major shift from the COVID-era boom of home sales, today's houses are sitting on the market longer, creating an oversupply of homes. And until buyer sentiment shifts, builders aren't planning to add new inventory to the market. Knowing what we do about the current state of the housing market, it's not surprising that October ended with lumber futures sitting at markets averaging $539 per thousand board feet. Contractors spent the first few months of 2025 trying to figure out how to manage increased tariff rates and higher lumber prices on Canadian materials. In hopes of easing financial strain due to higher prices later on, many companies bought as much lumber as they could before the tariffs went into effect. Unfortunately, a good portion of that lumber is still sitting in warehouses, waiting to be used. The Hard Reality Of Hardwood Both the hardwood and softwood markets are facing tariff pressures and slowed demand, but the hardwood market has its own set of challenges. Just like for softwood, the US housing market drives hardwood demand—think hardwood floors, framing, and furniture. But there's a major difference; the United States exports a lot of hardwood to China, Canada, and Mexico. To put it in perspective, US 2017 wood exports to China alone totaled $1.5 billion. In 2024, China imported around $850 million worth of logs and wood products from the US, nearly half the amount imported in 2017. Until this year, the drop-off could be attributed to a collapse in China's property sector. Citing biosecurity concerns, China stopped importing logs from the US altogether in March of this year. Although the shift was framed as an environmental precaution, the timing of the announcement reflects the evolving trade policy. With the nuances of the hardwood market understood, we can see that it faces a similar reality to the softwood market. Inventory numbers are higher, manufacturers are trying to figure out how to utilize the oversupply, and challenging macroeconomic realities create low demand for furniture, home renovation projects, and other key hardwood applications. Global Trade Routes Provide A Band-Aid Solu on Most businesses that operate within the lumber industry have been forced to find creative solutions to current market conditions. When it comes to managing the impact of trade policy, industry leaders are finding workarounds—literally.

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