LUMBER PRICES TODAY

Lumber is elevated because of supply, not a buying frenzy: softwood tariffs and mill closures have tightened North American capacity faster than homebuilding demand has cooled. As of 2026-09-01, the futures trade at $563 per thousand board feet (Lumber Futures,Nov-2026), -6.3% over the past month and +5.9% since early January. This is not a rerun of 2021: that spike was locked-down demand; this one is structural supply.

What actually sets lumber's price

Three masters, in order: trade policy (softwood duties keep Canadian supply expensive), mill capacity (closures and curtailments in a thin-margin industry), and homebuilding demand (starts, repair-and-remodel, and — regionally — hurricane rebuilds each June-to-November). Oil reaches lumber only as a cost floor: diesel runs the logging and trucking, natural gas dries the kilns. During the 2026 oil shock, when Brent spiked 63%, lumber moved about 10% — real, but a sideshow. The live coupling reading on our board shows the same thing honestly, week by week.

Method — what this print is

• The number: CME lumber futures, front month, daily settle, quoted in dollars per thousand board feet (MBF); refreshed with every data update.
• What it is not: your yard's quote. Cash lumber varies by species, grade, and region, and composite indexes (like the weekly Madison's/NAHB composite) run on different baskets. Futures are the fastest free read of direction.
• Your volumes: enter your monthly MBF on the board for exact dollar exposure to the move, buy-side or sell-side.

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