Plywood prices going way up?

[Pete J]

I went to pick up a few sheets of birch plywood today and the prices are up around $50 a sheet. I don't buy it often enough to track prices but it seems like the plywood guys will be eating well over the holidays. Do you think its because of the florida hurricanes or is china buying everything up?

[etat]

Around here the price of 3/4 inch birch or oak cabinet grade plywood has been fluctuating between 40 and 50 dollars a sheet for several years now.  Mostly depending upon the time of the year. The last time I looked at some I noticed it had less plys in it that what I had bought a few years earlier.  I believe 5 vrs 7 plys. Before I started my house, several years ago,   I bought about 60 sheets of oak, 7 ply, for the bargain price of 25 dollars per sheet.  

OSB, and plywood prices have been down this summer from what they were last year, however  I don't know the current prices.  Around here the price of lumber goes down in the wintertime, and up in the spring and summer.  Enough to make a significant difference in the cost of buying lumber for a house.  

[Pete J]

By that logic, I guess I bought it at the right time of year. I think with the prices of fuel and raw materials like steel, aluminum and plastics all going up, lumber prices will probably start to follow.