NELMA’s lumber mills shipped a total of 631 million board feet (MMBF) of softwood lumber through the first 9 months of this year according to reports received by the Association. This total was down slightly (-1.3%) compared with the same third quarter figures for 2013, but ahead of 2012 by 4.8%.
Of the 631 MMBF total, Dimension lumber produced primarily from the Spruce-Pine-Fir species grouping accounted for 322 MMBF or 51%, with Eastern White Pine lumber accounting for the remaining total of 309 MMBF (49%). Looking at overall Dimension Lumber shipments, the 9 month total was down 4.1% from 2013 comparatively, while Eastern White Pine edged up slightly 1.7% from the previous year’s shipments. As indicated by the graph below, Eastern White Pine has a string of the best 5 month shipment totals (May through September) since 2007.
Please see the charts below for additional comparative information for both the Dimension species group and Eastern White Pine:
