MDF 31 per sheet?!

[carlcnc]

this is nuts,in my area both box stores,Lowes,HD
in the NW are now getting 31$ for a 3/4 mdf. 22 and 26 for 1/2.
this is up by 20-30% from december.
how are other areas doing?

[andyb]

Here in Georgia, HD has 3/4" MDF for $40+ per sheet. I can get Lang Doorcore for $24 and Ranger board for $30 both which are a lot better that the HD and Lowe's junk.

Andy B.

[sam_harbold]

Here in the Baltimore Washington area I am paying $23.57 for 3/4" 4x8 Premier Plus MDF. The Premier Plus MDF is 10 times better than what HD and Lowes sells.

[carlcnc]

Sam
that makes no sense,most of the plants are closer to me than you.

[ken_rychlik]

$22 in Texas. $16 for 1/2 inch. That's at the depot. Cheaper than that when you buy a unit from the wholesaler.

[erik_f]

Big box MDF is crapolla

[rcnewcomb]

1" MDF is $38/sheet in South Dakota

[jhicks]

Seems very odd at first glance but if I consider the reduction in demand for wood, therefore reduction in dust, its the old supply and demand situation.
Strange its the case in lumber country but I suspect they shut down mills, construction declines, plus large processors being slammed with the economic melt down in housing, it had to catch up sometime.
$30.00 per sheet does sound a bit high for their grade of material but not really that far out of line. Guess you got spoiled on the benefits of them selling scrap/waste/dust when there was a lot of it around.
Add it on and keep moving forward.

[joewino]

Feel stimulated yet?

[weslambe]

27 in MS and AL for Plum Creek.

[kivimagi]

What makes one brand of MDF better than another?

I purchase the stuff from the local Box stores, and its dusty, and smelly, but its cheap.

[bleeth]

Ryan: MDF comes in as many formulae as chocolate. The lower quality has trash in it (like metal bits) that can really screw up your bits as well as a huge percentage of stuff that can do your health in. Additionally the density of it can vary a lot from sheet to sheet. Better quality will be much more consistant and therefore more predictable in it's qualities. The most expensive (making a big assumption that one is shopping wisely and has choices in their geographic area) today will use product that is clean recycled or plantation grown product and non-formaldehyde based binders in it. Take note that the Formaldehyde free product has gluing challenges as most of the adhesives we are used to using are made to react well with formaldehyde based adhesives in the product on which they are based.
The clue for good content is a FSC rating which means it is manufactured from sustainable product. FF means no formaldehyde and is seperate from FSC. Totally non-rated MDF is made out of "who knows what, who knows how, and who knows where".
Personally I don't want meat with specs like that on my table and sheet goods like that in my shop!!!

At this point I would like to refer back to some comments I made previously on a vendor in the Southeast US:
Based on several general reports made to me by a few acquaintences regarding the cost of quality MDF that met environmentally friendly standards I stated that the pricing from Dixie Plywood was a rip-off compared to other suppliers I was dealing with. Since then I have gotten specific pricing from them based on my commercial shop on a large variety of FSC and FF board product. I am quite happy to say that their pricing was competitive with other wholesale suppliers in my area as long as I made the effort to establish myself as a legitimate commercial client. For those who found their pricing to be higher than expectations I suggest the following steps:
1. Set you company up as a regular commercial client.
2. Make sure their rep visits your shop to see that you really are an actual business and not a hobby shop and get a current price list from them.
3. Open a commercial account (You can do this on a COD or Credit basis)

[beacon14]

In our area Dixie plywood won't give you the time of day unless you are ready to buy three to five thousand dollars of product from them each MONTH.

[bcammack]

In this economy that sounds like a contra-survival attitude, David.

[beacon14]

I have not had any contact with them in a few years so maybe things are different now, that was back when they had more business than they could keep up with.

[andyb]

David,
Don't get me started on DixiePly. I dealt with them a few months ago and had the same problem you had. I was told to call DixiePly with some questions that I had about material for a job I was quoting. I call the sales office and started asking questions the gentleman asked me now many sheets I needed and when I said 10 his comment was they can only sale in units and told me I would have to call a reseller. When I told him the reseller told me to call them with my questions. He told me to call them back and he then ended the conversation.

One other problem I had with DixiePly was I bought what I was told was Trupan UL from Suwanee Lumber but when I went to pick it up it was SeirraPine UL. The invoice from Suwanee Lumber said SeirraPine but the paperwork from DixiePly said Trupan UL on it. I had to have it to finish a job and had to use it. The product turned out to be not so bad. I talked to the SeirraPine Rep at IWF about the comparison between Trupan UL and SeirraPine UL. Not much difference. Trupan still has a little better cut quality. The Rep turned out to be a Sales VP for their SeirraPine line. He said and I quote, "If you buy any UL MDF from DixiePly the call it Trupan UL. They will not make the change in their system to reflect the actual product you are purchasing." He said that they have received several complaints about it. Mostly people complaining that they are trying to pass their product off as Trupan UL. Which they are not. They have complained to DixiePly but they won't change their system.

Anyway, that is how I was turned on to SeirraPine UL which is what I use for my spoilboard.

The standard SeirraPine MDF is really nice also and the price is compariable to other MDF products.

If I can purchase something that doesn't come from DixiePly I will.

Andy B.

[myxpykalix]

One good thing about the downturn is that maybe it will weed out companies like this DixiePly who have such an arrogant attitude toward customers.

[drodda]

Unfortunately Jack the downturn seems to be weeding out the smaller companies who still care about getting new business. This leaves only the arrogant Dixie Ply's of the market left to deal with.

-D

[bill_moore]

Carl Go talk to the local cabinet shops to find out where they buy their sheet goods. Big box as to sort of quote Erik is junk (and expensive ).
Bill

[jhicks]

I had heard something a few months back that may help explain the MDF price situation. A large lumber yard supplier sales rep told me that as of 1/1/09 California had imposed new regulations on materials being used, sold, or coming into the state. I guess it included fomaldehyde content and he said it even restricted/prevented the chinese materials from being unloaded from ships into the LA port.
His comments may very well have been a bit of sales embellishment but if its true it could be part of the reasoning.

[carlcnc]

UPDATE,
day after my rant. I went to the retail lumber yard that I used back when I was building houses
[one of my previous lives],
ranger board 3/4 for 26.50
I think Lowes has raised their margins due to low sales volume.
thanks

[coach]

speaking about Dixie plywood. They told me their oak lumber was the best arount and was 37 cents more a board foot. I purchased 200 board feet today and the lumber was no better than the lower price I was paying at A & M Supply in Orlando. When I complained to them, the sales manager basically wanted to fight me. CRAZY. I WILL NEVER REFER NOR PURCHASE ANY THING FROM DIXIE PLYWOOD IN ORLANDO FLORIDA.

RUDE AND IGNORANT PEOPLE.

[Bob Eustace]

1" MDF is $38/sheet in South Dakota

You guys live in wood paradise as out here in Oz its $64 a sheet. The reason is our Greenies are forceing all the previously thriving woodchip mills to close forever and in places like Tasmania causing massive unemployment. A similar thing is happening with our carbon tax to supposedly combat global warming. Troubling times!

[dlcw]

Are you guys aware that there was a recent decision by one of the bazillions of government agencies to significantly increase import tariffs on all wood products coming in from eastern countries? This was in response to the dumping of wood products into the US market by China and other eastern countries.

My suppliers have indicated that many of the items they carry will be going up in price. I asked about domestic products and they said they haven't decided if they are going to tack all the price increases on just import stuff or spread it across all products to show a lower average increase over their whole product line offering.

Interesting to see how creative they get in all this. :eek:

[WoodMarvels.com]

and to think... sawmills use to run burning pits to burn all the sawdust and other scraps that weren't solid hard/softwood. There is more glue in MDF than wood, it should go in the glue department.

Jon

[gc3]

current cost here for 18mm trupan $35usd

[gene]

My supplier told me to expect 20 to 30 % increase on imported plywood

[bleeth]

Same here on import expectations. Domestic just got a 5% plus hit.

[chiloquinruss]

"price increases on just import stuff or spread it across all products to show a lower average increase" Ahh the mentality of US retailers! The US finally makes a move so domestic growers might be able to compete against foriegn growers and what do they suggest they might do? Tack on the increase to the US products so the foreign product isn't priced to high! Now I ask, does that make any sense to any of you? And we wonder why OUR economy is screwed up! Geeeez! Russ

[coryatjohn]

I just bought several quality sheets of MDF from a local wholesaler:

3/4" x 4 x 8 Trupan UL: $46.50
1" x 49 x x 97 MDF: $40.58
1/4" x 49 x 97 MDF: $12.45
3/4" x 4 x 8 Oak R VC (Cabinet grade domestic) $48.02

Memphis, TN

-John Coryat

[bob_s]

I know that the imported "Chinese" plywood is cheaper, but who hasn't had problems with it delaminating? It can be ok or total junk. After seeing in person what working conditions are in china, Vietnam, and Cambodia I won't buy it. I cannot in good concenious support a company or country that subjects vulnerable people to those conditions.
If we want jobs here we all have to decide where to draw a line that works for each of us. Mine is US or Canadian plywood and no far eastern bits on my cnc

[bleeth]

What kind of plywood you can or can't use for your clients depends very much on what your actual exact market is. In some venues using import ply has been the only way that bids are accepted. In others, your superior quality, design skills, and customer approach is what makes the sale more than the percentage difference by pricing possible for using less expensive material. Personally, I absolutely hate Chinese ply. I would rather use domestic poplar core veneer ply any day. But the affect it would have on my pricing for the commercial jobs I do means I would have no jobs.
Frankly, on an overview, after our government has allowed billions of dollars worth of Chinese products into our country for nothing for so many years that the entire US manufacturing sector has been totally gutted, to turn around and slap a high tariff on plywood, particle board, etc is more Washington Grandstanding that is basically screwing the hell out of the public while sounding good to the ignorant Flag wavers. After all, they are not putting the same tariffs on manufactured finish goods, so it is only US fabricators who get the price rise, while the likes of Rooms-R- US, etc, continue to stifle the ability to make furniture in the US and earn a profit. So next, US cabinet manufacturers (what is left of them) go down too.
PS-Party affiliation is irrelevant-They both are being run by a bunch of pigs!!

[myxpykalix]

It does seem as though the whole idea of allowing the cheap merchandise into this country to give consumers low prices is a good idea EXCEPT no one thought of the "unintended consequences" of that policy. I saw this 30 years ago when the steel mills started closing due to the cheap imports.

So the cabinetmaker is out of a job and can't afford to buy the Ipod for the kid because of the flood of material imported. People smarter then me might disagree but what is wrong with a little protectionism? Ok we may have to pay more for some things but you still would have a job and earning an income to afford it.
We have too many idiots in both parties screwing us:eek: