Wood Crosstie Procurement Trends
Railway Tie Association (RTA) Procurement Trends Dashboard below represents the monthly opinions of "in-the field" wood tie buyers who procure untreated crossties from sawmills in their specific regions. The data is submitted to RTA within the first two weeks of the month following the reporting period covered. The output is in two forms - monthly and a 12-month running view (which started in July 2016). You can choose individual regions or grouped regions from the dropdown menus above for both the monthly and trend data. All the charts on the page will change based on your dropdown selections.
Since the information provided represents a snapshot-in-time-opinion of individuals, each working for a variety of tie procurement companies, RTA does not warrant nor accept responsibility for the accuracy of the data generated. For questions or feedback please email us.
1. Compared to last month, the quantity of logs on hand at mill yards is:
2. Today's log availability is:
3. The 6-12 outlook for log availability is:
4. Compared to last month, the overall demand for competitive products in your territory is:
5. In your territory, what is the current demand for:
Pallet Lumber
Paper (Chips
Lumber (#2 & #3)
Export
Board/Mat Timbers
6. What is your current view of overall hardwood sawmill production?
7. What is your current view of overall crosstie sawmill products?
Current
Future
8. What is your view of crosstie competitive position relative to other hardwood products?
9. Regarding your above answer, please provide context for market, weather or other conditions.
Virginia: Weather and current hardwood market conditions have slowed production to a crawl. Crane mats have picked up slightly.
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, N Indiana, N Illinois: Logs are still expensive with nowhere to go with low grade lumber. January saw a cold snap with No snow which made for good logging conditions - with warmer temperatures and no snow cover this will be short lived. Still a lot of mills trying to hold and calling everyday about selling ties.
Pennsylvania: Log inventories are mixed but overall improved from December. Upper grades of lumber moving better than the lower grades. Particularly in R.O. and Poplar. Export demand has softened with the arrival of the Chinese New Year. Pallet shops seem to be holding lower inventories. Production has also been limited by extremely cold temperatures which has mills and log crews facing equipment issues.
New England 1: Conditions have been good for logging but due to the market conditions mills are still keeping inventories low. Many logs being sold into Canada. Flooring lumber is slow and has mills worried about low grade lumber sales.
West Virginia: Some mills missed production with the cold weather and snow mid January. The frozen ground did allow mills to gain some ground on log decks but the warm temperatures and rain later in the month slowed logging down. Mills can move common and better grades fairly easy but the low grade can be difficult to move at times.
E Texas, NW Louisiana: The market is still soft in all area's except cross ties, the woods have gotten wet so log piles are going down in a hurry !!
Mississippi: Winter weather has diminished log inventory. Mills rely heavily on ties to survive.