But seven months ago, a dramatic change led to higher demand for wood and lumber, and significant price increases.
Production in the entire sector was reduced as the pandemic took hold in the spring of 2020.
“Being an essential business helped us keep running when a lot of the industry cut back for fear of overproducing for a shrinking market,” Pescaglia said.
Most of the lumber produced for housing construction comes from mills in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
“A large amount of lumber is shipped from Missouri to other parts of the work, particularly China and Europe,” Brookshire said.
“Many companies are running at about 75-percent of capacity because they have 10- to 20-percent of FTE vacant because they can’t fill the jobs,” Brookshire said.
Besides managing workforce challenges, Pescaglia, of Missouri-Pacific Lumber Company, is encountering relationship challenges with longtime customers.
“It’s horrible to tell them I can’t make them an offer or I have to pick and choose who we’re going to sell to.
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