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Strong Demand for Quality Hardwoods Remains Despite Continuing Inflation and Supply Pressures

FORECON’s bid sale process continues to not only show that demand for quality hardwood timber remains robust, but that (in our opinion) provides the very best opportunity for forest landowners to maximize their forest products income.  Below are recent results of four sales that were sold through our bidding process illustrating the outcomes for a variety of sale conditions and locations.

Let’s look at the following results from a very recent timber sale in western New York (“Timber Sale A”), where a harvest on approximately 20 acres was offered.  The predominant species in this sale included red oak, soft maple, and hard maple.  FORECON cruised and marked this, and the result was a sale volume of approximately 113,300 board feet (Doyle Log Rule) in total, having most of the volume in red oak (37,900 bf), followed closely by soft maple (32,500 bf) and hard maple (22,400 bf), along with a few other minor species making up the difference.  A bid prospectus containing a list of the tree-count and volumes-by-species, along with terms of the sale and sale maps, was mailed out to prospective bidders.

The results were as follows:

Strong Demand for Quality Hardwoods 01

There were 3 bidders responding to this sale, with the high bid 1.19 times higher than the low bid, and with 1 bid below the average and 2 above.  It was estimated that the red oak came in at about $640/MBF; soft maple about $320/MBF; hard maple about $640/MBF (Doyle).

Our second example (“Timber Sale B”) is a sale that was located in western/central Pennsylvania, also having 3 bidders participating.  FORECON cruised and marked this timber sale, an offering which contained about 206,000 board feet (Doyle Log Rule) in total, with the majority of volume also in red oak (94,300 bf), with smaller amounts of mixed oak (34,100 bf), soft maple (30,000 bf), basswood (14,500 bf), black cherry (14,000 bf), and white oak (10,600 bf) making up a majority of the difference.  A bid prospectus containing a list of the number of trees and volumes by species, along with terms of the sale and sale maps, was also mailed out to prospective bidders.

The results for this sale were as follows:

Strong Demand for Quality Hardwoods 02

This sale had 3 participant bidders, and the high bid was 2.34 times higher than the lowest bid, with 1 bid above the average, and 2 bids below.  It was estimated that the red oak sold for about $600/MBF, the mixed oak for about $770/MBF, soft maple for approximately $530/MBF, basswood for about $120/MBF, black cherry for about $580/MBF, and white oak for about $960/MBF.

Our third highlighted sale (“Timber Sale C”), located in western New York, was a larger sale in terms of volume on a sale area of about 45 acres.  FORECON cruised and marked this timber sale, an offering which contained about 500,000 board feet (Doyle Log Rule) in total and had a majority of its volume in red oak (310,300 bf), followed by soft maple (109,600 bf), and a small amount of hard maple (17,700 bf), along with a few other minor species making up the difference. A bid prospectus containing a list of the number of trees and volumes by species, along with terms of the sale and sale maps, was also mailed out to prospective bidders.

The results for this sale were as follows:
 

Strong Demand for Quality Hardwoods 03

This sale had four bidders participate, and the high bid was 1.99 times higher than the lowest bid, with 2 bids above the average, and 2 bids below.  It was estimated that the red oak brought about $680/MBF (Doyle); red maple about $630/MBF; and hard maple about $1,090/MBF.

Our fourth sale (“Timber Sale D”) for this issue was located in northwestern Pennsylvania and brought very competitive results on a 77-acre sale area.  FORECON cruised and marked this timber sale, an offering which contained about 552,200 board feet (Doyle Log Rule) in total and had a majority of its volume in red oak (247,400 bf), followed by white oak (100,700 bf), black oak (76,900 bf), soft maple (66,300 bf), and scarlet oak (40,100 bf), along with a few other minor species making up the difference. A bid prospectus containing a list of the number of trees and volumes by species, along with terms of the sale and sale maps, was also mailed out to prospective bidders.

The results for this sale were as follows:

Strong Demand for Quality Hardwoods 04

This sale had nine bid participants, and the high bid was about 2.01 times higher than the lowest bid, with 4 bids above the average, and 5 bids below.  It was estimated that the red oak brought about $640/MBF (Doyle); white oak about $1,020/MBF; black oak about $310/MBF, red maple about $610/MBF; and scarlet oak about $200/MBF.

Again, these are just several recent timber sale examples, and as always, please keep in mind that results depend on a variety of circumstances; quality and species of timber, access conditions, and prospectus terms are just some of them.  The timber markets in our region remain very active and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on our bid sale results in future articles.

Our foresters would be very happy to speak with you about the markets, and more importantly, your goals and objectives for your land. Please understand that, despite these very busy times, we will do our best to accommodate your needs as soon as we can.  As always, thanks for your patience!