PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 17, 2021
Demand for building materials has jumped during the pandemic, caused at least in part by the hot real estate market that has led many to buy land away from the big cities and build a new home in a safer, rural community. Home renovations and expansions are also booming. But industry analysts said those much higher prices aren’t working their way down through the market to reach the pockets of Maine landowners where the trees grow, or the loggers who cut them down. Eric Kingsley, a forest economist, said it’s a bottleneck in the supply chain that’s pushing prices sky high at the sawmills, and that’s where prices are jumping.