Why the cost increase?

buck goes down don't you see?
too much money spent on that crazy WHOever engineer.

My understanding of this rise in lumber pricing has very little to do with the availability of raw lumber.  During Covid shutdowns mills were forced to close.  In many cases the worker bees scattered.  Restrictions are then lifted and not only have some workers fled the area but many others don't want to go back to the mills as they are being paid to sit home.

Then there is a question of a shortage of actual mills, you would expect that with rising prices it becomes a safe bet to build a new mill.  But, that costs 10s of millions and takes a long time.  Whomever is deciding not to build new infrastructure has the reasonable expectation that it won't pay off in the end as we really are in a bubble. 

Same with chicken and pork (my fav) pricing.  Asked my butcher and he
impatiently explained that there are plenty of pigs running around and few
processing plant workers to process them.

Notice the Orwellian \8-) reference (Animal Farm) above.

I crack myself up sometimes!

Regards,
barts

They’ll be back as soon as the money dries up but I wouldn’t hire a single one of them. Prices will come down a little but will never be back to where they were. Inflation will catch up with them.
The funny thing is, we are all being screwed. Left, right. Black, White. All of us. We should all be on the same team not fighting each other. As long as the politicians keep us at each others throats they and their benefactors have total control over us. The American middle class is dying and without it so goes the United States. International corporations could care less. The funny thing is, in the end, nobody will be able to afford their crap.

Covid seems to be a big factor behind recent inflation in general .  Business shut down or scaled back as people began staying home and demand decreased (along with the number of available workers).  More recently, consumer demand has picked up, but supply chains remain disrupted.  Low supply + increasing demand = higher prices.

As for lumber in particular, see:
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/1013819703/what-the-rise-and-fall-of-lumber-prices-tell-us-about-the-...

Didn't read other responses but I am in the industry and represent companies in CE, Computing, Audio Video and all vendors have spoken to component increases across the board . Wood, Metal, Plastics, Chips,  Panels  all  have increases in prices.  Demand is outpacing supply in almost all cases due to sales as well as logiistics which i will get into in more detail.

There are also Tariffs that went into place that are still in place on certain goods out of China which have contributed to the increase.  I have had manufacturers raise 2 and 3 times during covid.  Some only once but none with no price increases.

Now to the logistics which is killing everyone.  Prior to covid I had vendors paying around $2,000 for a 40Ft container . During covid cost increased to $4,000 to $6,000 in the last two months containers went to $11,000- $15,000 and then in the last few weeks quotes are now $22,000 to $25,000 a container out of asia.  Lets say you can even get space on a ship.  The goods are sitting on the docks in asia for weeks before getting on the ship.  Then when they get here they sit off the cost for a few more weeks.  Then when they get to the docks they sit there for a few more and all of these delays have to do with lack of personal to move the product.  .   Now you are in the US with goods and logistics to move from the port to DCs has also skyrocketed.    Net net time and money has caused increases accross the industry and is also affecting all other industries as well.  Our vendors give you estimates with the caveat that it could swing up to a month

No one wants to talk about inflation but think about it,  Your grocery bill is at least 25% more , if you go to dinner meals are out of control.  Ok places charging $40 plus for an entree , high end places $60 plus.  Gas and oil prices which then seep into all goods made with petroleum products.  Lumber although has come down a bit was up 4 X cost.    Lots of products OOS on items you need to build.  Try to get a pool contractor these days they will tell you 2 years.  Cant even get the fence to put around the pool.

Crazy times and the expectations are Q4 will be horrible this year as majors are decommitting quantity of goods to major retail and only promising 45% of delivery.  Many manufacturers are caught trying to decide to build goods at a much higher cost and get stuck if prices normalize.  Others taking the risk and others just not building. 

Maybe back to normal next year