There was a lot of action this year in the normally slow-moving lumber-cost arena, with price-hikes strongly impacted by forces of nature and international litigation. Prices skyrocketed 13% in 2017, according to data from analytics firm IHS Markit.
“Prices reached unprecedented levels,” says the analytics company’s senior economist, Deni Koenhemsi, who cites fires in Canada and the successive U.S. hurricanes in August and September as factors in the 2017 surge.