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Data-Driven Prices

Welcome to Forest Economic Advisors’ new price service, PricePulse, North America’s first transaction-based price report for wood products. This data-driven service revolutionizes price discovery within the industry. There is no opinion, no approximation, no uncertainty, and no one talking their position.

For decades, the main source of price information for wood products has been collected by a few editors surveying their contacts in the industry. That changes now.

Building on FEA’s long history of providing unbiased, in-depth analysis and fostering trusted relationships, FEA’s PricePulse brings this same attention and independence to price reporting.

PricePulse is now publicly available. A subsection of prices is available and reported twice per week, including Southern pine dimension pricing. Additional prices, products, and regions will be rolled out in phases. Visit the PricePulse Roadmap to learn more.

Keep Your Finger on the Pulse of the Market

How It Works

  • Every day, data suppliers’ ERPs create files containing all open-market transactions
  • These files are sent securely to our dedicated server
  • Transactions are automatically mapped from the data supplier’s codes to FEA’s product prices
  • Average weighted prices are calculated, and only those prices with a minimum number of participants are published to protect companies’ identities

Why It’s Better

  • PricePulse only uses actual transactions
  • There is a rigorous, well-defined methodology
  • Only weighted averages are reported — no guesses, estimates, or opinions
  • Every price has multiple participants: we don’t report prices without actual data
  • Daily collection of transactions will capture market changes quickly with more accurate peaks and troughs
  • There is no judgement involved at any stage, eliminating human error
  • Companies’ identities are strictly confidential
  • Provider data is secure from start to finish

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How are prices collected?
    1. A participating company (Participant) enters order data into the company’s ERP as part of their normal business process for the accounting, storing, managing, analyzing, and interpreting of their own data.
    2. Participants run reports from their ERPs which are uploaded via secure FTP directly to the FEA Transaction Price Division’s (TPD) secure server. Most Participants run these reports automatically.
    3. Participants’ data is delivered to a secure database on a dedicated server and mapped to FEA price codes.
    4. A computer algorithm creates a weighted average price of all Participants’ transactions for each reported product/grade.
    5. The weighted average price is pulled from this database for publication in FEA’s PricePulse report and made available through FEA’s Data Center and via an API.
  • How can you guarantee that my company’s prices won’t be published?
    FEA’s algorithm only reports a price when a minimum number of five companies upload transactions for that particular product/grade during the reporting period.
  • How is transaction data secured?
    To ensure the confidentiality and security of company data, FEA has implemented the following safeguards and policies:
    • FEA’s Transaction Price Division (TPD) protects company data during transfer: FEA uses a secure S/FTP that is SOC 2 Type 1/2 compliant, ISO 27001 certified and is compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
    • FEA’s TPD protects company data on a dedicated secure server: FEA’s main Data Center application is hosted on a dedicated server that uses a defense-in-depth layered approach to security. Access to the management network infrastructure is provided through multi-factor authentication points which restrict network-level access to infrastructure based on job function utilizing the principle of least privilege. All access to the ingress points is closely monitored and logged.
    • FEA’s TPD protects company data within FEA TPD: Only application administrators will have access to the non-aggregated data. FEA’s PricePulse editors will have access to a de-identified subset of the non-aggregated data to ensure quality and consistency. A subset of the data will be made available to an independent third party to verify compliance with the methodology and process. All logins will require two-factor authentication and/or SSH key.
    • Complete anonymity of data providers: FEA will never disclose whether any given market participant provides price and market data.
    • No individual company’s data can be deduced: Weighted average transaction prices are aggregated with a minimum of 5 Participants which will prevent any individual company’s prices from being calculated.
    • All FEA TPD staff understand the critical importance of confidentiality and data security: FEA requires all TPD staff to undergo annual training to ensure compliance with company policies.
    • FEA will conduct a regular compliance verification: FEA will regularly submit its data confidentiality and security as well as its methodology to an independent, external firm for verification to ensure compliance with FEA’s stated policies.
  • How do I know companies supplying data are not hand-selecting transactions?
    All data suppliers sign an agreement that all of their transactions will be uploaded to the secure database. This ensures Participants do not skew the results by being selective in what they report. It also increases transparency.
  • Are contract prices included in PricePulse?
    No, only open-market transactions will be included.
  • How can I access the PricePulse Methodology?
    A breakdown of the PricePulse Methodology is available here. Please contact Brendon Puffer at bpuffer@getfea.com with any additional questions.

Legal

  • Statement of Purpose

    Forest Economic Advisors (FEA) is dedicated to providing independent, reliable analysis for the wood products and timber sectors. Building on its long history of benchmarking reports that provide insight into regional and global competitiveness, FEA’s PricePulse report is based on actual pricing and other market information FEA collects from market participants. Despite the procompetitive benefits that PricePulse provides to the industry, including increased price transparency, FEA recognizes the sensitivity of the data it collects and therefore antitrust compliance and competition principles are fully integrated into FEA’s methodology for preparing PricePulse. As described in the PricePulse Methodology, FEA aggregates and anonymizes the data it collects to create the zone weighted-average prices for a wide range of products in the wood products and timber sectors that are included in PricePulse in a manner that makes it impossible to determine the individual pricing of any specific market participant. PricePulse is designed to be a highly accurate pricing report with minimal to no potential for manipulation or anticompetitive impacts. PricePulse is available for purchase to everyone and brings both greater clarity and increased competitive potential to the wood products and timber sectors.

  • Disclaimer

    The prices published in this report are provided for informational purposes only and represent an assessment of market activity for the period specified. These prices reflect typical producer-level transactions and may not capture all market variables. They serve as benchmarks, not definitive prices. Variations in product quality, grade, specifications, and other transaction-specific factors may lead to prices that differ from those published. All assessments are based on industry-standard methodologies, incorporating data from market participants.

    While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information, FEA makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the completeness, accuracy, or suitability of this data for any particular purpose. Users should consider other factors and conduct their own due diligence before making any decisions based on PricePulse data. FEA accepts no liability for any reliance placed on the information contained in this report.