HARDWOOD RECORD 



3i 



HardWood Market. 



(By HARDWOOD EECOED Exclusive Market Reporters.) 



Chicago. 

 As compared with the very active local buj 



Ing for 1 iths past, for the last two week 



trade in hardwoods in Chicago has 1 11 rather 



dull. This is invariably true in this market at 



this time oi year. Furniture 1 pie are all busj 



arranging their samples at the furniture ex 

 iii.ii> and preparing for their regular sales 



season. This class of trade, therefore, p"-i| es 



buying until the volume of furniture sales has 

 been practically established. Some important 

 deals are reported, bul od the whole trade is 



quite spotted, which is to 1 xpected for the 



month of January. Every indication points to 

 a speedy resumption of active buying within 

 the next ten days. 



Boston. 



The market for hardwoods has 1 1 ■ > 1 ruled very 

 active since the first of the year, and during 

 the last week "i" 1900 trading was quiet. Prices 

 Cor the mosl pari are well held Manufactur 

 ing consumers have a fair amount of business 

 ahead and are taking very good lots. The greal 

 est trouble drain's have to contend with is the 

 slow movement of freight. Orders placed sev- 

 eral months ago have not 1 11 delivered In 



many cases. This is largely due to the fact 



that ii has I □ very difficult to get cars at 



mill points. Furniture manufacturers were very 

 busy during the last few in. mi lis of last year, 

 inn are now taking account of stock. 



The market for piain oak is very firmly held. 

 For one inch, firsts and spends, the ruling quo- 

 tation is $53 i" $55. Offerings of the latter 

 arc not large. A prominent dealer states that 

 it is difficult to get the best western lumber 

 for this market, as western consumers are will- 

 ing to pay better prices than are obtainable 

 here. Quartered oak, 1-inch, tirsis and seconds, 

 is in fair call, with offerings limited, at $78 



to $80. C 1m.11 quartered oak is plentiful. 



The market for whitewood is very firm and 

 offerings are small. Leading dealers state 1 thai 

 they anticipate a material shortage in supplies 

 of desirable stork, and higher prices. Cypress 

 is also well held, but the demand at present is 

 quiet. Brown ash is firm, with offerings small 



New York. 



The local conditions in hardwoods are not 

 only on a yen- satisfactory basis for this season 

 of the year, but are full of promise as regards 

 the ouih.ok for spring trade. 1'ricrs are well 

 maintained. There is a shortage noted in all 

 kinds ot" good lumber. Every buyer who returns 

 from a trip among lie' mills in quest of stock 

 brings the same story of tow supplies and very 

 tirm prices. Willi the result that those whole- 

 sale houses or manufacturers who have any 

 stock in hand are holding out tirm for a full 

 realization as the spring season opens. II is 

 true that a trip among the mills in certain sec- 

 tions will reveal a fair amount of [umber on 

 hand, hut the actual fact is thai almost all such 



Stock has 1 n sold and awaits delivery by 



reason of the car shortage. 



The export trade shows a much better tone 



than it did al this time last year and n at 



yisiiors from abroad all acknowledge that they 

 can see nothing in the domestic situation hut 

 what points to the fad thai the foreign buyers 

 must meet current values in order to supply 

 their wants. This was not so last year, when 

 the foreign markets were holding off almost as 

 a unit with a tirm belief that prices would 

 slump. 



The general trend of trade in the matter of 

 demand still favors good and No. 1 common 

 plain oak. ash. birch, chestnut and poplar, hut 

 the balance of the ii>t is enjoying a very fair 

 call also. Low grade lumber while, of course. 

 much more plentiful than the better grades is. 

 nevertheless, being absorbed in sufficient volume 

 to maintain juices on a firm scale. 



Philadelphia. 

 A satisfactory hardwood market, witli glow 

 ing prospects for future trade, is the report of 



Philadelphia lumbermen The seeming apathy 



in business circles at this time of the year 

 argues nothing, as it covers the period of stock 

 taking. The car shortage is still troublesome, 



and there u i yidence as yet, unfortunately, 



of improvement along this line. 



Among the hardw Is. poplar and chestnut 



are mosl in demand, and both are very scarce 

 l'.asswoid and asli remain til in. and oak is still 

 a goo 1 seller. Quartered oak is not quite so 

 active. Low grade red cherry is running some 

 what ahead of the high grade, and red cherrj 

 planks, in all grades, find a ready market. 



fir eastern Pennsylvania furniture factories 

 are all humming. Kail and trolley n.ad build 

 ing shows no letup, and sash and dorr mills 

 are working straight through the winter, which 

 is unusual, and on orders for the coming season. 

 Building operations promise to he heavy, and 

 1907 will doubtless he another record breaker 

 in this lit f business. 



Baltimore. 



the holiday period brought a partial suspen 

 si.,11 of activity, but this did not in the least 

 affeci the situation, which is as strong us ever 

 and gives promise of remaining unchanged (<<v 



an indefinite period. Prices of all hardw Is 



are well sustained, and while some ; uuinlal i. .11 



is reported, stocks are generallj depleted. 



oak. of course, beads the list in point of firm- 

 ness and demand. Information from the mills 

 is to the effect that stocks are low. a considers 



hie part of last year having 1 11 unfavorable 



I'm- manufacturing operations. Oak and ash 

 are firm as to price and by no mans plentiful, 

 there being practically no change in the market 

 conditions. Poplar is holding its own remarka 

 hlv well. The tendency still is to work up large 

 quantities of this wool into box si ks. Chest- 

 nut and all other lines are in fair request, with 



11 fferings decidedly restricted, The export 



business is likely to remain quiet during a part 

 of the winter, but it must nevertheless be re 

 garded as being in good condition. Lumber is 

 going forward in liberal quantities, and the 

 foreign buyers have become somewhat ac 

 customed to the ruling prices 



Pittsburg. 



uv.r 750.000,000 feet of hardw is sold during 



the year 1906 by Pittsburg agencies tells briefly 

 the story of bj far the best year in hardwoods 

 that Pittsburg has ever seen. This lumber was 



valued at sun. nun. 1. The year showed a 



dear gain of twenty per cent in sales over 

 1005, which was considered a phenomenal pe- 

 riod. The year closed with general hardwood 

 conditions much better than at iis beginning, if 

 w except the car shortage, which is the most 

 aggravating that Pittsburg dealers have ever 

 had 10 face. General demand for hardwood lum 

 l.rr is much better than a year ago and there 

 Is not a mill owned or operated by Pittsburg 

 firms which is not driven to iis last extremity 

 I,, keep iis order books cleaned sufficiently to 

 1 1 lain 1 he fa i"r of iis wailing customers 



1 if mi 1 he hardw Is oak Ii .1 the market 



througl 1 1906. It was a phenomenal seller 



the last four months Of lb" year and tie- call 



for dry lumber is still increasing in no prev- 

 ious year was the inquiry for mine slock so 

 large as dining 1906 Never did railroads and 



manufacturing concerns take more oat, than 



l:;sl year, and in bul few previous VOIl'S did 



the business done with manufacturing firms 



amount to so large- a total. 



Present conditions vary in several respects 

 from those of a year ago. The stocks al mills 

 arc smaller. While many mills have a fair 

 amount of lumber in their yards, ii is all prac- 

 tically sold and wailing onlj to be shipped. 



Prices are fully twenty per cent higher on most 

 hardwoods than a year ago. This higher level 

 of quotations is exceedingly well maintained 

 and there is little likelihood of a break in 

 prices during He- present year in the face ,.f 



1 1 normous demand bot b pn sent and pros 



1 tive. for good hardw I lumber. The supply 



of available hardw I timber In the Pittsburg 



district is also much smaller than a year ago. 

 Many large purchases have been made during 

 the year and the timber is now In strong hands 

 and will be held intact nnlil it is cut off. 

 Smaller tracts which were bought within the 

 year were sawed up rapidly and the firms which 

 owned them are now scouring the country for 

 similar timber acreage. This is especially true 

 .if oak timber throughout western Pennsylvania 

 and Ohio. 



'the tirsi week in the new year has as usual 

 been devoted chiefly to .losing books and taking 

 stock. Little business has been done and whole 

 salers have been content to spend a few days in 

 retrospection as well as in forecasting the future 

 demand as besl tliey can. Loral wholesalers 

 in several instances are enlarging their forces 

 ..r salesmen and office workers preparatorj to 

 making inn? a record breaker. They regard 

 general industrial and financial conditions in 

 the Pittsburg district as extremely favorable 

 and with every big increase in wages know that 

 more lumber will he sold. This prosperity is 

 especially noticeable among the furniture linns 

 and implement and carriage factories, which are 

 running day and night to keep pace with the 

 ,1, iuaii.l for their stock and which are taking 

 proportionately large quantities of He 1 best 

 hardwood lumber in the market 



Buffalo. 

 There is a strong demand for hardwood lum- 

 ber in Buffalo and vicinity al the present time 

 Dealers who are besi posted on the situation 



11 uintiy ov.r say that there is a serious 



shortage of oak in sight. - There seems to be 

 much less production of oak in sections from 

 which most of the oak comes ami the resull is 

 likely to prove disastrous. Still there is no ad 

 vance in oak prices and then' maj be none lill 

 the shortage .actually occurs. 



There is less .omplainl of Shortage in chrsl 

 1 in and ash than Here was. for the lakes have 

 turned out a big supply of ash. especially black 

 ami brown, compared to what was on hand of 

 lair, and research in the South lias discovered 

 a better supply of chestnut. Prices remain firm 

 and holders of both woods will realize good 

 1 ruins .hi He in. There is a growing call for 

 the more expensive woods, mahogany, walnut 

 :in ,l cherrj Every effort is made to get as 

 much cherry and walnut stock as possible to 



|:ll-e care of I he wants of buyers. 



There is a good demand for maple, with no 

 evress of stock. Maple flooring is active and 

 prices are firm. 



The dealer who has not laid in a stork of 

 ii,, I, by lake during the fall is unite an exi 1 p 

 tion. and yet there is no prospect of an over- 

 stock, as it takes the place of oak so readilj 

 Elm and basswood are less active, bul sell very 

 wrii. Poplar is loo scarce to show ;m\ weak 



less 



Saginaw Valley. 

 The situation is strong, with light stocks of 

 dry lumber on band and millions of feet con 



in, i.d for 1 - rui for delivery during the 



pear, as it comes from the saw. Almost every 

 n-iii in the lisl has piek.,1 up. Not only is the 

 price feature more encouraging but trade pros 

 peers all along the line look good and consider- 

 ably-, more lumber is likely to he handled this 

 year than last. The car shortage is bad. and 



holds up business, bin tw he largest 1 on 



.-. ins iii eastern Michigan state that taking the 

 year through, despite tie' famine in cars, lb - 



red a great 1 - - of lumber in 1906 



than they did 1 in- prei ious j ■■■< 1 1 hey are not 



