Southern New England stumpage price survey comments from respondents. April – June 2007
- Oak prices continue to fall. We are focusing everything into firewood. $150/cd or $300/Mbf do the math.
- Oak dropping; pine low; white hardwood slight drop
- Hardwood lumber markets continue to deteriorate
- Logging prices where they are now won’t come up for a while
- Prices are not going up
- Tough, very unstable
- Log prices down. I’m glad to see quarterlys reflecting that. They still need to come down more on standing timber.
- All logs terrible. Hope that yarded logs can be protected from insects and disease.
- Very little timber bought lately. Landowners are not willing to part with their timber at current market prices (who can blame them?).
- White pine markets took a significant downturn mid-spring; enough for me to hold off on bidding out three sales ready for market. I hear sugar maple has dropped significantly, along with the ongoing red oak drop; black cherry still holding strong; hardwood chips strong, too, though nobody pays much for chips. I hear several consulting foresters, including me, holding off on putting out most sales until mill inventories shrink by fall 07… so it goes!
- Haven’t bid on any lots lately. Logging is tough shape. If you find a mill that will take logs they paid very little for high grade logs. In 1993 in Mass there were 97 saw mills. In 2007 there are 38 saw mills left. Not counting what was lost in VT and NH.
