Skip to main content

Woodland News

Back to News
Successful Timber Sale Bidding Continues

The demand for quality hardwood timber continues, and we are experiencing a consistent uptick in both stumpage prices and bid participation depending on the offered sale volume.  Sawmills are trying to keep up with their orders, the demand for which is being driven by both domestic and international wood products manufacturers for a variety of reasons (stay tuned for future articles on these reason…)

We want to keep you current using a few examples of the continuous batch of timber sales we are putting out for bid.  Here are three more recent sale results showing current market activity:

Timber Sale A

A recent timber sale (“Timber Sale A”) in northwestern PA shows the kind of interest even a relatively small timber sale offering can command, especially if marketed correctly.  FORECON cruised and marked a wood lot that contained approximately 43,000 board feet (Doyle Log Rule), having most of the volume in soft maple (24,300 bf), followed by white oak (9,800 bf) and black oak (6,200 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 mailed out to prospective bidders.  The results were as follows:

Timber Bidding 1

There was good bid participation in this sale, with seven different bidders responding.  The high bid was 1.5 times higher than the low bid, with 3 bids below the average and 4 above.  It was estimated that the soft maple came in at about $603/MBF; white oak about $939/MBF; and black oak about $469/MBF (Doyle).

Timber Sale B

Another sale of note (“Timber Sale B”) in southwestern NY also shows a decent demand for quality hardwoods on a slightly larger acreage.  FORECON cruised and marked this timber sale, an offering which contained about 172,500 board feet (Doyle Log Rule), predominantly comprised of hard maple (a total of 134,100 bf), and black cherry (26,500 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:

Timber Bidding 2

This sale had 3 bidders participate, and the high bid was 1.2 times higher than the lowest bid, with 2 bids above the average, and 1 bid below.  It was estimated that the hard maple brought an incredible $1,380/MBF (Doyle), and the black cherry about $1,725/MBF.

Timber Sale C

This third sale (“Timber Sale C”) in northwestern PA shows terrific demand as well for quality hardwoods, also on a modestly sized acreage.  FORECON cruised and marked this timber sale, an offering which contained about 227,300 board feet (Doyle Log Rule) and had mostly red oak (137,600 bf), followed by chestnut oak (24,300 bf), yellow poplar (17,800 bf), soft maple (16,000 bf), and white oak (11,100 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:

Timber Bidding 3

This sale had eight bidders participate, and the high bid was 1.9 times higher than the lowest bid, with 5 bids above the average, and 3 bids below.  It was estimated that the red oak brought about $1,068/MBF (Doyle); chestnut oak $534/MBF; yellow poplar $356/MBF, soft maple $712/MBF, and white oak about $1,246/MBF.

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 bring more insight into bidding results in subsequent posts.

If you have timber you may be interested in selling and want a long-standing professional forestry firm representing your best interests involved in the process, please don’t hesitate to call any of our FORECON offices.  Our foresters would be very happy to speak with you about the markets, and more importantly, your goals and objectives for your land.