re: Half of Lumber Dealers Now Sit on Excess Inventory in the U.S.

quote:

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Almost half of U.S. lumber dealers and manufacturers reported excess inventories last month, a sharp turnround from a few months ago, when supplies ran so low they sparked price surges.

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I keep reading this, but as I've mentioned before, supply didn't really seem to be the problem at just about all the places I've done business with over the past year. Both Lowe's and Home Depot stayed better stocked over the past year than I've seen in years. It wasn't just their normal inventory, either. Stuff I've never been able to find at Lowe's started showing up, like untreated 4×4s. Stuff they usually only carried some of was stacked to the rafters. Home Depot was more or less the same way. Both were still pulling and stacking contractor orders the whole time, too. The local mill/hardware store I do business with wasn't hit very bad, either, though it is harder to tell as they've given preference to builders more than individuals for years, but they still had most everything I went after.

I know it is anecdotal, but in my experience, supply wasn't the problem.