Planning for 2025

Greetings Customers & Friends,

As we plan for 2025 and beyond at Parkerville, the unknown factors related to our economy pose unique challenges that I have never encountered before. Over concern and curiosity, I wanted to explore possible future tariffs, taxes, and fees that we may incur in the near future.  On Tuesday I met with a career lumberman in hopes that I could gather information to share with you, our customers. I have known this lumber professional for over 35 years as he called on my company for many years in a sales role, before being promoted to a senior management position. He has been employed by the same lumber wholesaler for almost 40 years, specializing primarily in the sale and distribution of premium-grade hardwoods. He is a well-seasoned veteran surrounded by a network of buyers and sellers, as well as sawyers and dryers; he has his finger on the pulse of the industry.

I met with him on Tuesday and he told me that one of their primary softwood vendors raised the cost of Western Red Cedar by 25% over last weekend. That’s huge. This is in anticipation of tariffs, possible delays in the supply chain, and red tape and regulations that make conducting business more costly. He did tell me that his company did front load some orders for Cedar, Spruce, and Fir in anticipation of increases from Canadian imports, but then explained that things could reverse and return to normal or stable in short order – the unknown.

I think the most concerning part of the conversation was my friend enlightening me on how the sawmills are struggling significantly. The primary reason is that lumber exports are way down. So the mills are not cutting as many logs. He further explained that 75% of the material they cut are lower grades of lumber, (# 1 common and # 2 common) which is primarily exported to Vietnam, China, and other Asian countries where furniture, flooring, and wood components are made and shipped back to the U.S. and elsewhere. Only 25% of what’s cut is premium FAS grade (and similar) which is what his company primarily buys and what we buy and sell here at Parkerville. These mills cannot continue to cut and stockpile the lower grades of lumber just to generate higher volumes of FAS, and premium lumber, so supply and demand can impact availability and pricing. The world is holding back to see when things stabilize and become a little more predictable. I don’t think it will take too long for business and the economy to move in a positive direction.

As a comparison to our sales, I asked him what their largest volume movers are today. Number one was Poplar, number two was White Oak, and third was Sapele. Poplar is our number one seller. White Oak and Sapele are in our top five sellers. The future is not all doom and gloom and most all prices are down post-Covid. We will continue to buy lumber as smart as we can, and will always be competitive in the market. We continually search for new sources and private collections so that we can provide the most unique collection of lumber for our customers. We are sensitive to the price of lumber and will do everything we can to offer the best pricing possible. We work hard every day to help bring your projects to fruition.

This Monday, February 3^rd, we launch our new operating software. Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we move through the next month or two doing our best to learn and perfect the system. This is an industry (lumber) specific software that we have been building for the past year. We are excited about the launch and to become so much more efficient and organized as we grow Parkerville.

We are closed this Saturday as we transition our systems and data to our new platform. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Looking forward to a successful 2025 together with all of you. Our Parkerville team is here to help you in any way we can. I look forward to seeing you at the shop.

David Harris, President

Parkerville Wood Products, Inc.