Imperfect conditions in a perfect market

Looking only at prices for lumber, one could be forgiven for thinking that the industry is in an ideal position with record-breaking prices and demand. The pandemic exacerbated an already strong market for homes in North America while sales and new construction have failed to keep up. Underpinning this pricing surge is the frustrating reality that sawmills simply do not have additional capacity to supply the market. We are placed in the unfortunate situation of charging clients more than they have ever paid for our product while being unable to provide them with the quantities they are requesting.

Like gold and oil, lumber is a commodity whose price is subjected to the laws of supply and demand and so a piece of 2x4 costs whatever the market decides. For this reason, EACOM has always strived to differentiate itself by providing exceptional service and on-time delivery.

A year ago now, our operations pivoted extremely quickly to implement COVID-19 measures both to ensure a safe working environment for all our employees and to safeguard the supply chain for our essential products. We could not be prouder of the fact that our facilities never shut down and that our deliveries continue to arrive on time at over 95%. However, our Forest Management Plans are approved 10 years ahead of harvest, our fiber consumption is planned out, and our mills have bottlenecks like kiln capacity for drying. The turn-around time on significantly increasing production capacity at a sawmill can be measured in years.

So while these market conditions may seem like any company’s dream scenario, we will continue to focus on the elements in our control and work very hard to supply all of our clients’ needs, with exceptional service and outstanding timeliness.