Madison County road construction projects expected to reduce congestion and improve safety – Yellowhammer News

Towering pines line the roads of Alabama, a state where construction is booming and lumber prices are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, owners of forest land whose raw materials are in demand are suffering from stagnant timber values.

“We provide that lumber, and the lumber is there, but the price hasn’t gone up for us,” said Elliott Poole, owner of a forest in Sumter and Clarke counties.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, sawn lumber from Alabama averaged $ 22.84 per tonne. It only rose 69 cents in a year to $ 23.53. Almost at the same time, low interest rates fueled a building frenzy. From early 2020 to 2021, one thousand board feet of 2 by 4 lumber increased from $ 370 to $ 1,155. Oriented strand board (OSB) has gone from $ 255 to $ 795 per thousand square feet.