Citing a continued escalation of lumber prices, Armstrong World Industries (Lancaster, Pa.) on Tuesday announced it will initiate a 10 percent price increase on solid wood flooring for U.S. and Canadian shipments on March 1.
“Lumber prices are rising more rapidly than our previous expectations,” said Kevin Biedermann, senior vice president, Armstrong Residential Floor Products. “As the housing market continues to improve, we anticipate these higher costs to continue as fewer sawmills try to keep up with the increased demand. Armstrong continues to work at manufacturing productivity improvements and cost reduction programs to offset higher costs but cannot keep pace with the sustained increases.”
The latest price hike marks the second time since October Armstrong has raised prices on solid wood flooring. And in November it announced a price hike for engineered wood flooring.
Armstrong is not alone in responding to the upswing of lumber prices, which has been brought on by the ongoing housing upturn. In November, Mohawk Industries (Calhoun, Ga.) announced a 6 percent price hike on select engineered flooring and then later broadened the scope of products affected to include all of its Unilin products.
Near the end of December lumber purchasing contracts for March delivery reached nearly $400 per 1,000 board feet on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The latest readings on random length lumber purchasing contracts for March stand at about $375.
