Hardwood Prices Hold Steady While Wisconsin Sawlogs Soar in Q4 2024
Read About Oak and Pine Prices Climbing in Wisconsin...
The 4th quarter of 2024 was favorable for Wisconsin for stumpage pricing for major wood species (including maple, oak, and pine). They all showed increases in weighted average sawlog index prices of at least 30% over the 4th quarter of 2023.
However, hardwood cord prices remained pretty stable for the fourth quarter, ranging from $25.31 to $33.39/cord on average for oak, maple, and aspen. Pine cord prices in the state recorded a 2% drop in the weighted average price.
Forest Data Network’s Prime Database includes data from thousands of sales from a variety of public and private landowners in the Lake States. (For instance, the quarterly cord data from Wisconsin contains prices on 300,000 cords sold. Michigan’s data for the 4th quarter includes information from the sale of more than 27 million board feet of sawlogs.)
More information on how to get access to the database is available at forestdatanetwork.com/prime.
Michigan and Wisconsin prices tended to reverse at the end of 2023 heading into 2024. Michigan had strong prices in the 4th quarter and year of 2023 and those prices dropped dramatically in 2024
Meanwhile, Wisconsin experienced a strong last quarter and year in 2024. This included an increase in oak and pine prices by over 20% over 2023.
Minnesota cord prices tend toward greater stability than Michigan and Wisconsin prices. However, oak sawlog prices were an exception in 2024, increasing by more than 70%. Much of Minnesota’s oak is harvested in the Southeast part of the state.
A sole outlier was tamarack, which showed a remarkable increase in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, it returned to normal (with a 75% drop) in Wisconsin. Tamarack is noted for its resistance to rot, so it is often used for fencing or products near water. Why that seemed to become important in 2022 and 2023 remains a mystery.
For highly detailed information on sawlog and cordwood prices, the Lake States Forest Data Network Prime database has a massive compilation of prices with more than 5 years of historical data for comparison for 28 different regions. Contact info@forestdatanetwork.com or call 608-620-4776.
