Lumber price spikes on Japan earthquake, tsunami

Lumber pricing spikes in the aftermath of Japan's massive earthquake. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange reports pricing on May lumber futures rose 0.7 percent to $311.10 per 1,000 board feet. Japan is a leading market for hardwood lumber exports, and reconstruction will increase demand significantly, with likely impacts on U.S. domestic pricing.


Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, OR - major ports of departure for lumber heading to Japan and Asia - were not impacted by the tsunami that followed Friday's earthquake, according to news reports. But some Japanese ports are not ready to accept shipments, and NYK Group's Japan-China Express shipping line was temporarily suspended.

On March 10 a shipping consotium known as the Grand Alliance - Hapag-Lloyd (HL), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) - announced expanded Trans-Pacific West Coast services. The Japan China Express (JCX) is slated for relaunch in May, in conjunction with the competitive restructuring of the Central China Express (CCX), South China Sea Express (SCX), and Super Shuttle Express (SSX). The CCX schedule wil concentrate coverage to Central China and Pusan, while the SCX will provide transit from Vietnam’s Cai Mep deepwater port to Los Angeles. The SSX will offer a super shuttle express to the market from South China and Hong Kong together with direct coverage in Fuzhou.

Lumber pricing is reported regularly at Woodworking Network from a variety of sources, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange data on lumber futures pricing. Charts here show hardwood export pricing trends from presentations at the North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. conference in Nov. 2010.