I think that hardwoods are more elastic in demand because of the hobby and custom markets. If you are a hobby woodworker, you have a decent pile of stuff ends and scraps that you can work with if prices go sky high, and wait for prices to come down. If you are a custom woodworker, you know how you can economize with veneers and design changes (I bet that the MDF shortage lagged the hardwood shortage), and even then, if you have to increase your prices, since craft furniture is a luxury item, the demand goes away and you need less material.
On the other hand, softwood goes into general contracting, and the demand for that is fairly inelastic. On top of that, there's tons of contractors trying to make ends meet that will cut their bill to the quick just to get the work, so they are bargaining away their margins for the cash flow. That keeps demand for softwood up regardless of price, so (((they))) can raise the price on it in ways that (((they))) can't on hardwood.
Thank you for the excellent response.
I always suspected the soft and hardwood markets were more closely linked regarding price elasticity. The vast majority of hard wood products end up outfitting houses built of softwood. You can't build a house without cabinets and flooring which are primarily hardwood and mdf. But if I'm right about this I still have no explanation as to the lack of hardwood price increases.
(Also, cause you seem to be into this type of stuff, all major residential construction projects in my area are at a halt. Homeowners were borrowing the maximum amount the bank would lend and when the framing package prices went up most couldn't cover it out of pocket. (For the average 3,000 sq.ft. house the framing package went from maybe $30,000 to $60,000. And I'm just sitting here thinking wtf, you have $150,000 of cars in your garage and you can't come up with $30,000 in spare change because you don't actually own anything. You merely pay property taxes on it while the (((bank))) holds the note)
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