Hardwood lumber prices in Alaska

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Does anyone know what the price of hardwood lumber is in Alaska?

Thanks,

Bob

[Michael Ballent]

I do not know, but I would imagine it would be pricey. I know that it's not cheap here in Phoenix since everything has to be shipped in. No cherry trees blown down and the mesquite that grows here are not much more than twigs, and it still sells for $15/bdft

[Bob Weisner]

What is the price of Cherry in Arizona?

Bob

[Jim Becker]

According to my friend Don up in Alaska...ching, ching! Very expensive for any kind of materials unless you mill your own. Why? It all has to be shipped in via expensive transport.

[Richard McComas]

Hi Bob, I live just outside of Anchorage. Wood can be expensive and the supply is very poor and limited in variety.If you want something really nice you have to order it. I'm not real current on prices at this time because I got lucky and had a friend who was driving up the Alaska Highway bring me 1500 board feet of cherry so I haven't bought any hardwood lumber lately.

If you have any thing specific you would like a price on I could get you that.

[Chris Padilla]

Uh, doesn't Alaska have, like, HUGE forests???

[Richard McComas]

Uh, doesn't Alaska have, like, HUGE forests???
Yes we have some forest in Alaska but not much in the way of hardwoods for furniture and cabinet building. Except for the Sitka Spruce and Alaska cedar in Southeast Alaska the rest of the state in mostly spruce and little skinny birch trees.

There is some local production of the birch trees, which is used by some local cabinet shops to make Alaskan birch cabinet. There is a bowl factor in Fairbanks Alaska that makes the bowls out of Alaska birch. There also a place in Anchorage called the ulu factory that uses some birch in the handles.

BTW the Sitka Spruce and Alaskan cedar is just as hard to get in Anchorage as other hardwoods, they must sell most of it to China or the like because it not in the local lumbers yards here.




http://www.lamarketplace.com/Mall/Catalog/Product/ASP/product-id/144033/store-id/1000015025.html

http://www.iswonline.com/wwp/200211/birch.shtml

[Michael Ballent]

FAS Cherry is around $6 (4/4) to $15 (12/4) as I said its not cheap :( heck even pine sells for about the same price as poplar

[Dennis Peacock]

Uh, doesn't Alaska have, like, HUGE forests???

Chris,

Yes they do....but....when I was there a LOT of the timber was being sold to Japan and China for their products to ship back to the U.S. to sell to us. There was acres and acres and acres of timber mowed over, cut up and loaded onto ships for sending overseas. :mad: