Impacts of COVID-19 on the US manufactured wood industry: evidence from softwood lumber and structural panels

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented volatility into the US manufactured wood products market, with the price of softwood lumber nearly quadrupling within a year, reaching its highest level since 1995. This paper examines the substantial price fluctuations in major wood products, focusing on Spruce-Pine-Fir and Southern Yellow Pine softwood lumber, as well as Oriented Strand Board sheathing. Using vector autoregressive and vector error correction models, this study investigates the relationships between wood product prices and various macroeconomic factors. The analysis reveals that labor market disruptions and shocks in the housing sector were significant contributors to the observed price volatility during the pandemic.