Lumber

Chicago lumber futures bottomed around the $350 per thousand board feet mark, a level not seen since June 2020, as soaring interest rates continued to depress real estate activity. The Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening cycle has pushed the 30-year mortgage rate to above 6%, dragging down sales and reining in home price growth while putting a severe dent in homebuilder confidence. The latest report from the US Census Bureau showed that new permits for home construction, a potential indicator of future activity, plunged more than 10% to 1.351 million units in November, the lowest since June 2020. The benchmark is now down almost 80% since its May 2021 peak of around $1,700, when supply chain issues compounded strong demand.

Historically, Lumber reached an all time high of 1711.20 in May of 2021. Lumber - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January of 2023.

Lumber is expected to trade at 336.65 USD/1000 board feet by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 289.54 in 12 months time.