RALEIGH, N.C. — In the third quarter of 2021, both housing markets started rebounding from a slight decline in past April. In August 2021, US housing starts were up about 4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.61 million units, which is about 17% up from last year. The lumber markets also started rising again in the last few weeks.
In the third quarter of 2021, both pine sawtimber and pine pulpwood prices continued to climb up in North Carolina. According to TimberMart-South, the state-wide average pine sawtimber prices in 2021 Q3 were about $30.9/ton, up 1.3% from last quarter and up 36% from the price a year ago. It was about 28% above the south-wide average pine sawtimber prices. The pine sawtimber prices in eastern North Carolina continued to move upward to about $37/ton in this quarter. However, statewide average pine chip-n-saw prices were $16.7 per ton, down 2.3% from last quarter.
In this quarter, the state-wide average pine pulpwood price was at $10/ton, which was up 6% from last quarter and up 3.7% from 2020 Q3. The eastern North Carolina had even a higher increase in pine pulpwood prices to an average of about $13/ton.
The statewide mixed hardwood sawtimber prices averaged at $26/ton in this quarter, down 14% from last quarter but up 4% from the price a year ago. It was about 18% less than the south-wide average of hardwood sawtimber prices. However, hardwood pulpwood prices trended upward to the state-wide average of $6.6 per ton, up 6% from the last quarter, and up 10.2% from the price a year ago.
For more information on the 2021 third quarter stumpage prices in North Carolina, please visit: https://forestry.ces.ncsu.edu/forestry-price-data/.
Read more at: https://forestry.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/10/timberpriceq3/
–Rajan Parajuli, N.C. State University