Does anyone know what the heck is going on with the industry in the south? I just got a little clearing work lined up in West Ga. and the two yards that I used to use are not buying pine plylogs or poplar and their pulp prices are so low noone could afford to haul it.
Short answer - The Fed has drastically raised interest rates over the last several months in order to curb record breaking inflation. This has caused mortgage rates to soar which has plummeted the demand for new homes. Less new homes being built means less lumber being bought, depressing the demand for raw logs.
I can see that might have some effect now,but the prices were bad even before that happened. Plywood is not being made in the states anymore because companies are sending the logs overseas and then importing the finished product. I believe it's giant companies like Ga. Pacific closing down their plywood factories trying to cause the GREAT RESET that is killing the industry.
Theres plywood mills and OSB mills in operation in Louisiana and Mississippi I know of in operation, large ones. Last year this time pinewood and hardwood pulp were fetching me $3 a ton in North LA, and it all went to a pellet mill. The mills have all the loggers on daily quotas so its hard to get anyone to cut pulp unless they can get some chip and saw or logs out of it too.