Dive Brief:

• In several areas of Southern California, lumber yards are reporting either rising inventory based on anticipated demand from builders or brisk business already.
• A Riverside yard manager said product piled up at his business had all been sold already, and another manager said product was moving so fast that finding sufficient trucking was a problem.
• The West Coast Lumber and Building Industry Association says its members are reporting that sales this year are well above recent years.

Dive Insight:

The field reports from the California yards come at the same time that Associated Builders and Contractors reports that overall construction-material prices were flat from April to May. Softwood lumber – the materials the lumber yards report is moving quickly – was down 0.2% from April and 0.3% year-over-year on a national basis.