{"id":92,"date":"2019-08-02T18:55:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T18:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/?p=92"},"modified":"2019-08-02T18:55:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T18:55:50","slug":"the-snowstorm-strikes-again-log-non-timber-forest-product-prices-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/2019\/08\/02\/the-snowstorm-strikes-again-log-non-timber-forest-product-prices-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"The Snowstorm Strikes Again! Log & Non-Timber Forest Product Prices & Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lauren Grand, OSU Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Lane County<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Downed trees in Douglas County. Photo credit: Alicia Christiansen, OSU Extension<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure you all remember the huge snowstorm we had in March. Of course you do! How could anyone forget being stuck in their home for days or even weeks without electricity? (Strike 1) The beautiful winter wonderland lasted a few weeks, but eventually melted to reveal a huge mess of fallen trees and broken tops (Strike 2). Now summer is here, and you are trying your best to clean up some of that mess. This might include trying to salvage some value from the fallen and damaged trees. So, you call the local log buyers and \u2026STRIKE 3!!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

So many landowners, large and small, were\naffected by the snowstorm that the market is starting to become overwhelmed\nwith small diameter, snow damaged logs. Sawmills are currently buying modestly\nin hopes that they don\u2019t build up their inventory too much. If you\u2019ve got logs\nthat are 2mil or are in the 8-11 inch top sorts then prices are not too bad,\nranging from $600-650\/MBF. While this price SEEMS shockingly low (are we\nremembering prices to be $100 higher last year?), if you consider the\nthree-year trend in the graph above, these prices are more historically in line\nwith summer pricing. Here comes the tough news: if all you have are small\ndiameter logs with 5-7 inch tops, you may have a hard time finding a\nbuyer.  If you do find a buyer, prices\nmay drop another $100\/MBF. If your damaged trees are even smaller than that,\nselling to a fiber mill for chips is always an option, but the chip market has\ncome down with prices at $28-29\/ton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Hem-fir sorts (spruce, hemlock, grand\nand white fir) are remaining pretty stable if not decreasing slightly. If you\ncan find a buyer, long logs are in the $435 – $485 range. If you\u2019ve got really\nrough looking logs, prices may dip to the $300 range. Roseburg\u2019s prices are\nslightly higher ranging from $425-$500.   \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the story of ponderosa\npine is getting tired. There aren\u2019t a lot of buyers, prices are down, and\nuncertainty in the Chinese tariffs are keeping people conservative. Prices in\nLane County saw a small rise to $320. Prices usually increase slightly\nmore down south. If you are selling pine, consider your trucking distance. At\nthese prices, if you have to move it too far, you may be losing money instead\nof making it. That being said, rumors of light at the end of the tunnel are\nstarting to surface. Hopefully I\u2019ll have some higher prices for you with my\nnext report, but no promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvesting of red alder seems to be\nslowing as a response to the softer lumber market and China tariffs. Despite\nthis, prices are remaining steady since my last report. Alder is hovering\naround $600\/MBF for the 8\u201d and up sorts. More realistic log sizes\/values show\nprices at $70 – 80\/ton and $400 for 6\u201d and 7\u201d logs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incense-cedar and redcedar prices are holding steady from the last report as well. Current values of incense-cedar in the south valley are running close to $650 for long logs. Incense-cedar in Douglas County is usually purchased at slightly higher values. Western redcedar prices are still lower than they have been in the recent past and are holding at $850\/MBF for a long-log and $50 less in Roseburg. Short log values decline by another $100-$200 depending on the length. Redcedar demand isn\u2019t what it has been because the mills have a good inventory at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Landowners are focusing on poles for their harvest while they wait in hopes for sawlog prices to come back up in the fall.” <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Poles are continuing to go strong and\nlook irresistible to sellers who are missing those late 2017 and early 2018\nprices. Because of this, landowners are focusing on poles for their harvest\nwhile they wait in hopes for sawlog prices to come back up in the fall.\nHistorically, pole values are steady in large part to the increased time\nbetween harvest and end-use. They also aren\u2019t tied to the lumber market which\nis down at the moment. Despite my excitement about poles staying solid, the\nprices have come off a bit since my last report. Poles less than 65 feet are\nbringing in about $100 less than earlier this year and are sitting in the\n$900\/MBF range.  Prices increase as\nlength increases. Long poles are currently selling around $1100. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Downed trees in Douglas County. Photo credit: Alicia Christiansen, OSU Extension<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the non-timber forest products world, cascara is king. A real mover and shaker, just be careful handling it or you\u2019ll only be moving to the nearest bathroom! Cascara bark is currently being purchased at $0.45\/ pound green and $1.25 per pound dry. I\u2019ve also been hearing that summer chanterelles are starting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this report comes to a close, I\u2019m working\non staying on the brighter side of things. While the snowstorm gave everyone a\nrun for their money, prices aren\u2019t dropping that much. Usually we see larger\ndips in the summer as a result of more sellers entering the market, but this\nyear things are fairly steady from last quarter. If you are working on a\nharvesting project make sure you communicate with your local log buyers,\nconsultants, and loggers early. And always get your purchase order before you\ncut!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Grand, OSU Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Lane County I\u2019m sure you all remember the huge snowstorm we had in March. Of course you do! How could anyone forget being stuck in their home for days or … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8562,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/97"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/lanelogprices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}