A guide to the North American wood products market

Three market shocks. One guide to navigating what comes next.

The North American wood products market is navigating one of its most complex backdrops in years. An energy crisis, a wave of AI capital investment and a shifting trade and tariff landscape are converging — keeping inflation elevated, squeezing margins and clouding the path to a housing recovery. This guide from Fastmarkets’ wood products and timber analytics team sets out what’s driving the market in 2026 and what to watch next.

By downloading this guide, you will get:

  • The three macro shocks explained: How the energy crisis, AI capex and policy uncertainty are moving through the wood products supply chain.
  • 2025 in review: Product-level demand performance across softwood and hardwood lumber, OSB, plywood, particleboard, MDF and engineered wood.
  • 2026 and 2027 end-use forecasts: Fastmarkets’ projections for US housing starts, repair and remodeling and key downstream indicators.
  • Supply chain impact by segment: How producers, wholesalers, traders and housing-linked buyers are each exposed to current market conditions.
  • Signals to watch: The key inflation, interest rate and capacity indicators that will determine the pace of any housing recovery.

Between a third and a half of US GDP growth in 2025 was tied to data center construction. That concentration of activity raises real questions about consumer health and creates direct headwinds for the housing recovery wood products depends on.
Dustin Jalbert, Director, Wood Products and Timber – Analytics, Fastmarkets

Fill out the form to access Fastmarkets’ full analysis of the North American wood products market in 2026.



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