![]() Lumber prices saw a modest increase in September of 1.3%, according to a new report just issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that increase shows a gradually upward trend starting in the spring of this year, it is nothing like the double-digit jumps hitting the construction industry two years ago. The softwood lumber picture has improved so much, in fact, that some sources have recently predicted that the US will soon become a net exporter of the material. That trend is by any measure historic: “The US was last a net exporter in offshore softwood lumber trade from 2009 through about 2016, when domestic market conditions were weak,” notes the site Fastmarkets. Overall building material prices have seen a less than 2% increase so far this year, says the BLS report, a tend once again comparing favorably with where things stood between 2020 and 2021, when the average increase was between 14% and 16%. The new report additionally shows a decline of 0.7% in gypsum building materials in September, marking the sixth consecutive monthly decrease, along with a 3.7% drop in steel mill products. The costs of moving materials from one place to the other have also seen an overall decline since the fall of 2022. According to a National Association of Home Builders analysis, “year to date, the prices of rail, truck, and deep-sea transportation of freight have fallen 1.5%, 7.0%, and 7.3%, respectively.” By Garry Boulard
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