Plywood Prices... argh!

[RMDavis]

Just curious...

So what are you paying for plywood these days? 

My local Menards prices are up about 50% or so.

Has anyone been forced to cancel or delay jobs do to the hefty prices?

Any thoughts if prices will drop within the next year?

 

[Kpp80202]

Just paid $70 a sheet for 3/4”x30”x60” Baltic birch. Ouch.

 

[woodferret]

BB 4x8 shop grade was $110 CDN at my local reno store.  7-ply mystery birch was $130. 

 

[sancho57]

6 mm 4x8 baltic birch going for $51, 3/4 maple 4x8 $110

 

[Packard]

3/4" maple ply (4' x 8') at Lowes @  $72.98

3/4" MDF (49" x 97")  at Lowes @$59.98

3/4" x 3.5" x 8' maple hardwood $35.98 each. (ouch)

 

[Crazyraceguy]

3/4" maple ply (4' x 8') at Lowes @  $72.98

3/4" MDF (49" x 97")  at Lowes @$59.98

3/4" x 3.5" x 8' maple hardwood $35.98 each. (ouch)

That last one is a real ouch! 36 bucks for an 8 foot 1 x 4? wow

 

[Packard]

I just bought two pieces of the maple.  And $70.00 really hurt.  Red Oak was almost the same.  Poplar was not much cheaper.

 

[Walter Cronkat]

I'm in Reno, NV.
Last weeks prices
12mm Baltic birch 4x8 $96.49
3/4"  Rift White oak 4x8 $189.85
3/4'' Pre finished maple 4x8 $130
1/4" Pre finished maple 4x8 $60

These are crazy prices, but I havent lost a job yet due to them.

 

[semenza]

Actually those prices are  down.  Less than a year ago I paid $190 per sheet for just 'OK' quality MDO. With prefin and veneered birch / maple at about the same.

Seth

 

[rmwarren]

I'm starting to look like a genius for all the extra material I bought "so I'd have it"...  [doh] Some 10/4 maple I purchased in Nevada ~30 years ago then hauled (possibly back) to PA ought the be about seasoned by now.

Disassembled a couple 80/20 & plywood carts recently and I salvaged 2-3 sheets worth of 18mm birch ply, it's being repurposed into some new shop cabinets soon.

And the boss asks why I keep everything.

RMW

 

[Peter_C]

Plywood doesn't seem to be coming down in price and I need to go get another sheet of pre-finished Baltic birch this weekend. About to build a shed too, but thankfully I already have 70% of the materials needed, and probably have extra construction plywood even.

We just cut up a truck load...or rather a bunch of skid steer loads of oak logs to get rid of them. I so wish I had a giant bandsaw or at least an Alaskan mill to process wood rounds. I did keep two logs to attempt to process thru my small 16" Doall bandaw. Going to have to free hand them with a chainsaw first though.

"If it is FREE it is for me!" Recycling is the way to go.

 

[rvieceli]

[member=50292]Peter_C[/member] the are quite a few folks around the country with bandsaw mills that will cut for you. Quite a few are still portable and they’ll come to you.

Woodmizer keeps a list on their website
https://woodmizer.com/us/Find-a-Local-Sawyer

Ron

 

[Peter_C]

Thanks Ron for that I book marked it. My neighbor does rent a space to a guy who does GIANT redwood slabs and could do them, but then they aren't free, and I would have to trailer to him. I can't imagine someone coming with a mill cheap.

 

[rvieceli]

Your mileage will obviously vary but one of my sawyers usually charges 50 to 60 cents a board foot.

 

[woodferret]

Things are silly enough that I just saw my local selling MDF at 2x8x3/4 sheets.  Makes sense if you need only a little, but I never thought I'd see that.

 

[rmwarren]

It's a quandary for me. I typically buy full sheets even when I need a small amount, figuring I'll eventually use the excess, but storage is tight right now. 1/2" MDF 4' by 8' is

 

[dwillis]

I have a large cabinet project in my workshop that needed 25 sheets of 5x5 3/4 Baltic birch plywood. Several months ago I went to three distributors in the Portland, OR area and found prices ranging from $110 to $152 per sheet. Because the distributors source this plywood out of Russia I was recently told that all their orders had been cancelled and the only material available was what was already in stock that had been ordered months before.

 

[Coen]

Yes. Some local governments here are obsessed with wood skelet houses, contrary to the 99% concrete inside, masonry outside, but as it turns out, most of that wood came from Russia or Bellarus. So I guess this segment will not grow that much in the near future...

I didn't buy any plywood recently, but everything non-plywood is going up too. The constant is that what gets created out of thin air ($,€,£,¥) goes down in value. That started long before the current Russian war in Ukraine, but Putin still gets blamed for it all.

Also a lot of stuff simply not available or with insane lead times. Shortages push potential buyers to stockpile in advance, exacerbating the problem.

 

[4nthony]

My local dealer in Los Angeles is selling 18mm 5x5 Baltic Birch for $138/retail, $128/contractor.

I was hoping they might start carrying some alternatives but nothing yet.

This guy is talking about using Eucalyptus plywood for his projects.

 

[tallgrass]

The prices are nuts. however I have over 100 sheets of finland ply in everything from blue, yellow , grey. green .white and natural mapple. I bought it all a couple of years ago from the man's wife that imported it and she was unable to get rid of of it. So I bought it, now I feel that I must have done something right for once..... usually when I buy something to save money it never works out. lol.lol. Who knew that the Kakistocracy would make me look smart. lol.