Comments from September 18, 2026.

 

Production at US residential solid wood flooring factories was in line with expectations in August. Following declines over the prior two months, manufacturers’ shipments rose 7%, according to the HMR/Fastmarkets estimate. Elevated overland freight rates and the uneven dependability of for-hire trucks remain obstacles to timely shipments to distributors for certain manufacturers.

 

Finished goods inventories are adequate for some producers but low for others. One plant manager said his inventories have reached a two-year low. “The only product that remains in abundant supply for us is 2¼” No. 2Com Red Oak,” he said. “All other items are well under weekly replacement levels, and many are weeks oversold.” Relative scarcity of certain finished goods in a fair overall market continues to add upward price pressures, primarily for Red Oak flooring, as shown in this week’s pricing matrices.

 

Demand is generally stronger for No. 1Com than for Sel&Btr and No. 2Com items. Healthy demand for No. 1Com is having a pull-through effect on No. 2Com—high enough to move No. 2Com Red Oak and White Oak flooring at a decent pace, but not high enough to materially improve profit margins.

 

Meanwhile, Sel&Btr White Oak flooring remains a tough sell, though the sales pace is no longer painfully slow, as it was in the winter and spring of 2026. Price concessions are often required to move Sel&Btr White Oak. This is occurring longer into the year than contacts had been expecting. Including this week’s decline, the listing for Appalachian 3¼” Sel&Btr White Oak has fallen by $0.42 from the peak of $3.74 per square foot at the start of the year, equating to an 11% decrease. Contacts also report slow sales of 4” No. 1Com Red Oak and 5” Sel&Btr White Oak.

 

Supplying sawmills report steady to somewhat higher sales of #2A&3A Oak to flooring plants. Prices for Appalachian #2A&3A Red Oak are steady to firm, whereas prices for #2A&3A White Oak are flat. Published prices for Southern #2A&3A Red and White Oak recently registered gains, resulting partly from some residential and truck trailer flooring plants paying Appalachian prices for Southern lumber. Low log supplies and resulting constrained lumber production in the South also contributed.