EUGENE, Oregon — President Donald Trump’s demand that the U.S. increase timber output by a quarter is running into a math problem: Lumber companies may not make as much money on wood in the coming months.
A steep drop in lumber futures prices nationally is jolting the wood products business just as the Trump administration is prodding the industry — including the government’s own forest managers — to ramp up production so the U.S. doesn’t have to rely on imports.
Futures prices on lumber at the end of last week dipped to $527 per 1,000 board feet, down from almost $700 per 1,000 board feet in early August, and to the lowest point in a year.
For big companies like Weyerhaeuser, which operates a mill in Cottage Grove about 20 miles outside Eugene, Oregon, the pricing signal isn’t sounding alarms just yet. The mill’s in the middle of a multiyear modernization that will move sawlogs of all sizes faster through the plant, said representatives who figure the market is doing one of its usual seesaws.
