National Average Price of Gasoline Hits an All-Time High

[NorthDallas40]

Sporadically, yes. Still talk to a lot of people that are busy but we see troubling signs. I've heard a couple of sawmills have laid everyone off and shut down recently.

Sawmills? Lumber is still trading at a near 50% premium over historical costs so it would seem demand is still there. Can the not get raw felled trees for processing is that what’s driving it?

 

[AshG]

/checks gas price indices from across the planet

Yep, prices are up everywhere. We ain't special.

 

[VolStrom]

/checks gas price indices from across the planet

Yep, prices are up everywhere. We ain't special.

Just be glad you don't live in ultra woke Europe, they are paying double for gasoline and triple what we are for natural gas. Ask Germany how well its solar cell campaign worked out on their mad dash for green energy, since they pay twice as much for electricity as France does that gets 80% of their electricity from nuclear.

 

[landscapingvol]

/checks gas price indices from across the planet

Yep, prices are up everywhere. We ain't special.

So you think it makes economic sense for one of the World’s largest producers to be paying more for gas than virtually every other major oil producer on the planet? Nah, has nothing to do with US policy

 

[MurphyVol]

Sawmills? Lumber is still trading at a near 50% premium over historical costs so it would seem demand is still there. Can the not get raw felled trees for processing is that what’s driving it?

So please excuse the ignorance in my terminologies- My friend owns a "rough cut" sawmill. They bring in the logs and do something minimal to them. His two largest customers are "finishing" saw mills and take his stuff and turn them into 2x4 and 2x6s.

He said both called him last week and said they had inventory stacked to the sky and were sending everyone home.

 

[DC_Vol]

Sawmills? Lumber is still trading at a near 50% premium over historical costs so it would seem demand is still there. Can the not get raw felled trees for processing is that what’s driving it?

Tree sellers are not getting any extra dollars for their wood. It’s not inventory. It’s capacity at the mill.

 

[VolStrom]

Tree sellers are not getting any extra dollars for their wood. It’s not inventory. It’s capacity at the mill.

I'd be surprised if the mill capacity is the problem. I'm not seeing any new houses go up around me at over $250/sq ft. What I am seeing is huge apartment complexes being built because people have been priced out of the market. This has to be the most dysfunctional economy I've seen in decades.

 

[GroverCleveland]

Tree sellers are not getting any extra dollars for their wood. It’s not inventory. It’s capacity at the mill.

Yep. a step-son works at a mill in Moultrie, Georgia. Says the same thing, although they have had some slow downs as well. They are not running full shifts, although some of that is due to machinery upgrades. But he said their dried lumber waiting for the planing mill is stacked as far as one can see.

 

[DC_Vol]

I'd be surprised if the mill capacity is the problem. I'm not seeing any new houses go up around me at over $250/sq ft. What I am seeing is huge apartment complexes being built because people have been priced out of the market. This has to be the most dysfunctional economy I've seen in decades.

Unless there is another piece I’m missing, it must be. My family has investment property that is timbered, and the offers haven’t changed at all.

 

[NorthDallas40]

So please excuse the ignorance in my terminologies- My friend owns a "rough cut" sawmill. They bring in the logs and do something minimal to them. His two largest customers are "finishing" saw mills and take his stuff and turn them into 2x4 and 2x6s.

He said both called him last week and said they had inventory stacked to the sky and were sending everyone home.

Lol you used better terminology than I did. What you are describing is a demand problem which isn’t what I was expecting. I guess that says people are tired of paying for high lumber and demand is falling. That’s bad.

 

[NorthDallas40]

Tree sellers are not getting any extra dollars for their wood. It’s not inventory. It’s capacity at the mill.

Sounds like nobody wants to buy high priced lumber from his reply and sawmills can’t move their product. That’s bad.

 

[DC_Vol]

Sounds like nobody wants to buy high priced lumber from his reply and sawmills can’t move their product. That’s bad.

Demand is really high last I checked. Home builds cannot keep up with the demand.

 

[MurphyVol]

Lol you used better terminology than I did. What you are describing is a demand problem which isn’t what I was expecting. I guess that says people are tired of paying for high lumber and demand is falling. That’s bad.

There's a pretty neat email service I joined a while back called "The Hustle" that sends you about 5 bullet points every morning. If the topic is of interest you can click on the link to the story.

This was one of yesterday's topics
Timber! Lumber prices are falling hard - The Hustle

 

[DC_Vol]

Another read on the subject from earlier this year.

Interesting one of the factors they pointed to was a lack of available labor in the mills.

https://www.newsweek.com/why-are-lumber-prices-so-high-are-they-going-down-2022-1681105

 

[allvol123]

There's a pretty neat email service I joined a while back called "The Hustle" that sends you about 5 bullet points every morning. If the topic is of interest you can click on the link to the story.

This was one of yesterday's topics
Timber! Lumber prices are falling hard - The Hustle

Probably every industry is going to deal with these wild gyrations for quite a while due to pandemic behavior.

Plants closed, demand skyrocketed, inventories sucked dry, plants reopen, backlog insane, prices shoot up, consumers back up, …..so much shtt to contemplate and can vary wildly from industry to industry.

 

[Septic]

So you think it makes economic sense for one of the World’s largest producers to be paying more for gas than virtually every other major oil producer on the planet? Nah, has nothing to do with US policy

It has everything to do with refining, these refineries cost a billion and take 10 years to build. Unless you invent a car that runs on brent crude, it's not as cut and dry as you think.

 

[hog88]

So please excuse the ignorance in my terminologies- My friend owns a "rough cut" sawmill. They bring in the logs and do something minimal to them. His two largest customers are "finishing" saw mills and take his stuff and turn them into 2x4 and 2x6s.

He said both called him last week and said they had inventory stacked to the sky and were sending everyone home.

Wow, I haven't seen any slowdown in construction so is it just a glut on the market?

 

[Septic]

Demand is really high last I checked. Home builds cannot keep up with the demand.

It's starting to slow down here in SWFL but only slightly (probably due to the interest rates.) Nonetheless - builders aren't selling homes upfront any more, they'll take your deposit with the understanding that the final cost will be determined at the time of the C.O.

The houses that are being built are taking 18-20 months whereas they were 12 months a year ago. Labor and material shortages are slowing everything down.

 

[volfanhill]

Wow, I haven't seen any slowdown in construction so is it just a glut on the market?

2 years ago I had a fence put in at my old home. Had one put up at my new home earlier this month. Both wood fences. Sales guy was telling me it was significantly cheaper now then 2 years ago. Demand for decks/fences has dropped tremendously.

 

[hog88]

It has everything to do with refining, these refineries cost a billion and take 10 years to build. Unless you invent a car that runs on brent crude, it's not as cut and dry as you think.

10 years? We haven't had a refinery built in the US since the 70's.

 

[VolStrom]

Personally I think most consumers have had as much as they can take with increased costs for gas, food, housing and increased interest rates and the market for most things is going to tank. What is happening today cannot be sustained and wait a year and this will look like the good ole days.

 

[allvol123]

Personally I think most consumers have had as much as they can take with increased costs for gas, food, housing and increased interest rates and the market for most things is going to tank. What is happening today cannot be sustained and wait a year and this will look like the good ole days.

Yea. I wish I had a 1000 gallon tank in my back yard. I would fill it up with gas.

 

[Septic]

10 years? We haven't had a refinery built in the US since the 70's.

I'm just repeating what the CEO of Chevron said - "takes 10 years and a billion dollars" (and he had no plans to do it because the ROI took too long for his shareholders to see returns.)

 

[VolStrom]

2 years ago I had a fence put in at my old home. Had one put up at my new home earlier this month. Both wood fences. Sales guy was telling me it was significantly cheaper now then 2 years ago. Demand for decks/fences has dropped tremendously.

That's good news actually. I got a price on a new roof recently and was blown away by the cost. I elected to wait because I don't see prices staying elevated, because they won't have many customers unless a hail storm blows through.

 

[McDad]

It has everything to do with refining, these refineries cost a billion and take 10 years to build. Unless you invent a car that runs on brent crude, it's not as cut and dry as you think.

Yet our refining continues to grow. No new refineries but existing are increasing capacity. America leads the world in output of refined oil .