Lumber Price Plunge Proves The Cure For High Prices Is High Prices

The move, coming despite relentless demand from home buyers, triggered a third straight day of losses in lumber that proved to be the market’s worst in eight months.

At Tuesday’s settlement, US lumber futures for July delivery per board footage settled at $1,264 per board foot, down almost 5% on the day.

The slump followed data from the Commerce Department that showed US Housing Starts housing starts down almost 10% in April due to a pullback in activity from builders probably reacting to soaring prices of most materials, including lumber.

Even prior to Tuesday, lumber prices had been falling, giving back 15% on Monday and nearly 4% on Friday.

Combined, the drop of $366, or nearly 23%, over the three days since Thursday’s last positive close of $1,630 marked the sharpest loss for lumber since the Sept. 15-17 period.


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