see, this sounds so silly to me............how can it be cheaper to import a 2x4 from overseas than from a hundred miles away?
our pine price is still low. and ya can't tell me that knotty wood is better than ours. not trying to step on toes here, just can't believe the math.
It doesn't make sense to me either. I know that a lot of specialty woods, hardwoods and exotics used for trim and decoration, come from overseas. It's rare wood and it's expensive and I can understand that.
Structural lumber is dirt cheap by comparison and it's almost always shipping costs that determine how far away from the mill the lumber can be sold at a reasonable profit.
Structural lumber is a high volume commodity, too. You have to sell a lot of lumber...and keep selling it... to realize any return on your dollar.
I don't mean to sound like some kind of expert here. I'm not. I don't know much about sawmills and I sure don't know much about all the economics involved. But I've been listening to sawmill people all my life. The ones who did well were the ones who understood how to sell at a profit after figuring in all the costs. LOL...I've always been part of the costs and they don't let me forget it either.
Maybe those guys in Lithuania got their timber cheap. Maybe they work cheap. Maybe the ship hauled the lumber on a back-haul rate to get it over here to pick up a better paying cargo. Maybe the homeowner was Lithuanian and had a hankering for homegrown wood. Dunno.
I'd like to know more about all this.
In the meantime I'll check the lumber aisles on my next trip to Home Depot or Lowes. We raised a hell of a stink when they started carrying Canadian lumber and they quit offering it. Never thought to look for Lithuanian labels.