Last week, European exporters earned a stable US-$620/1000 bft with 2-by-4 (Western SPF, KD, #2 & better; identified by Madison’s Lumber Reporter). Thanks to a strong US dollar, the price in euros rose to €351/m³, that is €6/m³ more compared to the week before (converted into actual size). Currently, the softwood lumber price is at a higher level than it was last year. In the chart above, you can see the downward trend in November 2020 (violet curve).
The Lumber Futures traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are at US-$757/1000 bft for January 2022. At the current exchange rate, that would be around €420/m³ or approximately €70/m³ more than at the moment. In US dollars, the possible level is much lower than the price recorded in January (around US-$880/1000 bft). If the US dollar remains more or less as strong as it is now, European exporters would earn €430/m³ and thus only €30/m³ less than in the very good month of January 2021.
