Southern Comments

GENERAL

Comments from November 21, 2025

With loggers slowing down and current log decks being counted ahead of the colder months, sawmills across the South are finding out if the cupboard is full or bare. The biggest deciding factor in that seems to be where in the region you are located.

In states like Mississippi and Louisiana, HMR has spoken to several sawmills who are struggling with low inventories, prompting concern heading into the colder months. In North Carolina and Georgia, sawmills have more than their fair share on hand.

Dry conditions, continued salvage of storm-blown logs, and the bottom falling out of the pine and pulpwood markets, leading loggers to cut more hardwood, are seen as the main reasons. “If they aren’t full of logs, it’s their own fault,” one buyer told HMR of sawmills in the two Eastern seaboard states.

Movement of grade lumber remains sluggish across the region, while the Red Oak market seems frozen. Overall, market conditions are tough and taking their toll. One large Southern pallet manufacturer recently announced it was mothballing its sawmill over the colder months. Its eighty staff will be looking for work elsewhere this winter.

“There’s an eerie feeling out there,” a salesman for a large Southern sawmill told HMR. “I mean, production keeps dropping, but where is the demand? Maybe we are in a new era where people are not into hardwood as much.”

Another Southern seller was more optimistic. “It’s always tough this time of year,” he said, pointing at the potential inking of the long-awaited trade deal with China in 2026 as a reason for hope. “It’ll come around—it has to.”

ASH

Weather has been finer across the South over the last week, allowing lowland logging to pick back up. While some sellers have noticed a drop in #1C prices, there isn’t enough wider movement to warrant changes in the green listed prices, indicating supply and demand are evenly matched. The market for kiln dried Ash is also balanced.

BEECH

PECAN & HICKORY

MIXED SOFT HARDWOODS

SAP GUM

SOFT MAPLE

Supplies of Soft Maple are low in the South amid stable demand, with list prices for WHND 4/4 #1C&Btr increasing this week. The remaining WHND and WHAD prices hold steady.

#2A&3A OAK

Ask any sawmill operator in the South and they’ll tell you the same thing: the market for low grade Oak is a struggle. Residential flooring plants are still buying to build inventories ahead of winter, but there are signs that it is starting to shift down a gear. Truck trailer flooring buying remains weak.

RED OAK

After some upward movement for thick stock Red Oak earlier this month, the market for this species has settled over the last week in the South. With no major trade deals inked, overall demand remains unchanged. The listed price for green 4/4 #1C did receive a small bump, while the lower ends of kiln dried 4/4 #2A ranges drop, but otherwise, there are no price changes.

WHITE OAK

International demand for White Oak is hardly blowing down any doors. There is plenty of green White Oak available, particularly in 5/4 and 6/4 #1C, which saw drops in the list prices this week. Thick stock purchasing is starting to pick up, leading to a rise to the 8/4 Fas&1f listings. On the kiln dried side, oversupply has led to drops in list prices for 4/4 Fas and its upper end, as well as the lower end ranges for 4/4 #1C. Relative scarcity for kiln dried 5/4 #1C is responsible for the rise in its list prices, and the lower and upper ends of the ranges.

POPLAR

Markets for green and kiln dried Poplar were stable this week. Outside a rise in the low end ranges for kiln dried 8/4 #1C, no prices are changed.

FRAMESTOCK, CANTS, TIES, & BOARD ROAD

There was no movement in Southern board road this week, with pallet cant business also stable. Maintenance buying for crossties is continuing ahead of the winter months, yielding little change in reported prices.

After little movement all year, Mixed Soft Hardwoods saw a drop in prices this week. 4/4 #2B&Btr all fell. A buyer for a Southern secondary manufacturer who regularly buys framestock said they were “flooded with lumber.” “We are way oversupplied on mixed hardwoods,” he told HMR. “We have had to pump the brake.”