How often do timber prices update?

Published statewide and regional stumpage reports update quarterly, but the market underneath them moves week-to-week as mills shift demand, weather changes available supply, and trucking rates fluctuate. A current cruise plus a sealed-bid process tells you what your specific tract is worth on the day — which is the only number that matters for a sale.

What's driving timber prices in Mississippi and Alabama right now?

The big levers are housing-market sawtimber demand, paper and OSB mill demand for pulpwood, wet versus dry harvest weather concentrating logging activity, trucking and diesel costs, and storm-salvage volume entering the market after major events. We track those levers but we don't price a tract off averages — we price off the cruise and the bid sheet.

Should I wait for higher prices before selling my timber?

It depends on the stand. Overstocked pine past peak diameter growth may lose value while it waits, while an understocked or younger stand may still add value with more growing time. A measured cruise plus a current market read is the productive way to answer that question for a specific tract, rather than a calendar rule.

Where can I see Mississippi and Alabama timber price reports?

Mississippi State University Extension and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System both publish quarterly stumpage summaries. They're useful directional reads — not tract-specific quotes. For a real number on your timber, the cruise and bid process do the work.

How do I get a price for my specific tract?

Call us. We'll walk the property, cruise the timber, and either give you a current appraisal or take it to a sealed-bid sale. The first conversation is free.

Current Timber Prices in Mississippi & Alabama

Timber prices vary by species, product, tract conditions, access, sale size, local mill demand, and the terms under which the timber is offered. Regional reports can provide useful context, but they cannot determine what a particular tract is worth without a timber inventory and property-specific evaluation.

Timber values across Mississippi and Alabama vary widely from one tract to the next — even between adjacent properties with similar-looking stands. There is no single “current price” that applies to every landowner. What follows is a plain-language read on the factors that drive stumpage value across the region, so a landowner can put a buyer’s number in context before signing anything.

Why Timber Prices Vary Between Tracts

Unlike a bushel of corn or a barrel of oil, timber is not sold on a fixed exchange. Buyers evaluate each tract individually: what products can be produced, how efficiently the timber can be harvested, how far it must be hauled, and how it compares to the other tracts on the market that same week. Two properties with similar-looking timber can produce very different results depending on how they are positioned and brought to market.

The main levers are consistent across the Southeast:

Species and product mix
Stand quality, stocking, and merchantable volume
Tract size and on-the-ground accessibility
Proximity to active mills and haul distance
Local buyer competition on the day the sale is offered

Product Class: Pulpwood, Chip-n-Saw, and Sawtimber

Standing timber is broken into product classes by diameter and end use, and each class prices on its own track:

Pulpwood — the smallest-diameter product, sold to paper, OSB, and chip mills. It carries the lowest per-ton stumpage.
Chip-n-saw (CNS) — mid-diameter pine cut into smaller-dimension lumber. Prices sit above pulpwood.
Sawtimber — the largest-diameter class, cut into structural lumber. Typically the highest per-ton stumpage.
Poles and grade hardwood — separate pricing tracks that only apply when stands qualify on straightness, knot pattern, and stem quality.

The mix of these classes inside a single stand is often what drives total tract value more than the “headline” price for any one class.

Mill Demand and Local Market Reach

A mill only pays for wood it can actually process. When a regional pulp or sawmill runs full quotas, prices in its procurement radius firm up; when a mill slows or curtails, buyers pull back in that same shed. Because Mississippi and Alabama have a dense network of mills of different types, the shed a tract sits inside can matter as much as the timber itself.

Market activity can shift on:

Mill quotas and inventory positions
Regional harvesting activity and available supply
Weather and ground conditions that concentrate logging onto dry tracts
Trucking and fuel costs

Access, Haul Distance, and Tract Size

Loggers price risk into every bid. A tract with reliable dry-weather access, a road that will hold a loaded truck, and a manageable haul to the mill will draw stronger interest than an otherwise identical stand that requires long skids, creek crossings, or a marginal county road. Tract size matters too — very small stands can struggle to attract full crews, while larger tracts spread mobilization costs across more tons.

Competition Between Buyers

The single most important factor a landowner can influence is competition. One phone call from a buyer reflects one buyer’s number on that day. A properly marketed sealed-bid process exposes the same cruise to a vetted list of qualified buyers on the same day, and the spread between the high bid and the low bid is the answer to whether the market was actually tested. Whether that produces a materially higher final number depends on stand condition, product mix, access, contract terms, buyer list, and current market conditions.

Reading a Timber Price Report Without Misleading Yourself

Mississippi State University Extension and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System both publish quarterly stumpage summaries. They are useful directional reads for market trend — pine sawtimber firming or softening, pulpwood tight or loose in a given region — but they are statewide averages, not tract-level quotes. A 60-acre first thinning on the south Mississippi Pine Belt and a 200-acre mature pine clearcut in the north-central hills do not share a price, even in the same quarter.

Use a published report to understand direction. Use a measured cruise plus a bid process to understand your specific tract.

How to Use Regional Timber-Price Reports

Guidance last reviewed July 24, 2026.

Regional averages, not property appraisals. Reported prices are averaged across many sales, tract types, and conditions inside a reporting region. They describe the region, not any single tract.
Wide variation within the same region. Stumpage values can differ substantially between nearby tracts because of product mix, timber quality, volume per acre, access, terrain, tract size, logging conditions, contract terms, and buyer competition.
A cruise or appraisal may be needed. When a landowner needs a property-specific value conclusion — for a sale decision, estate work, casualty loss, basis, or partition — a timber cruise or written appraisal is the appropriate tool, not a regional average.
A sealed-bid sale tests the current market for that offering. A properly marketed sealed-bid sale reflects what qualified buyers are willing to pay for the timber and sale terms actually offered, on the day the bids are opened. It is not a general price index.

Public, authoritative sources for regional context:

Southeast Forestlands does not republish proprietary subscription datasets (such as TimberMart-South tables) on this page. Landowners who want a subscription-grade regional read should consult those services directly.

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Getting a Price on Your Specific Tract

The reliable path from “what is my timber worth” to a real number is:

Have a registered forester walk the property and run a measured cruise.
Break the cruise out by product class so pine, hardwood, sawtimber, chip-n-saw, and pulpwood are priced on their own tracks.
Take the cruise to the market through a competitive process — usually a sealed bid — with a written contract that protects the landowner during harvest.

Southeast Forestlands works only for the landowner. We do not buy timber for resale and we do not represent mills or logging contractors. If you would like to understand what your tract is likely to bring in the current market, the first conversation is free.

Current Timber Prices in Mississippi and Alabama