Over the past few weeks, the Western Plywood market has shown promising signs of improvement. Following a period of seven to eight weeks marked by mediocre sales and gradually declining prices, the commodity panel markets began to stabilize two weeks ago. Since then, there’s been a concerted effort to recover some of the lost ground, with varying degrees of success.
While we’re not seeing a runaway boom, the recent transactions at improved prices have provided mills with a renewed sense of stability. However, customers remain cautious, generally purchasing only what they need. This conservative approach is mirrored across other sectors as well, with OSB, Canadian Plywood, and SYP all reporting slight improvements.
The need for optimism in our industry has never been greater, yet ongoing uncertainties across various economic sectors continue to promote caution. Encouragingly, some projects that were postponed in late winter are now starting to proceed, which bodes well for the industry. Despite this, panel prices remain highly competitive; hovering near 12-month lows for certain products as customers maintain lean inventories.
Looking ahead, the consensus is that there’s minimal downside risk in the near term. With more projects potentially receiving approval for the summer, there is hope for an increased flow of products into the field. Our market is constantly adapting—almost every week brings a new challenge, yet this dynamism is nothing new for those of us in the plywood industry. We remain hopeful for a stronger market as we move forward.