Poplar rivals pine as costs, availability reshape market

Poplar is gaining ground over eastern white pine as builders and woodworkers seek cost-effective alternatives amid a shortage of clear-grade pine lumber.

While both species remain valued for their affordability and versatility, lumber suppliers say the scarcity of upper-grade clear white pine is driving demand toward poplar. The pricing advantage often cited for pine applies primarily to lower-grade, knotty material rather than clear lumber.

"Pine is still prominent. We're still moving plenty of it because it's cheap," said Dave Norman of Parkerville Wood Products in Manchester, Connecticut. "I'm seeing a lot of people wanting pinebecause it's less expensive, but that's knotty pine. Clear pine — I just had a customer who needed four trim boards for his house he's flipping — was going to be a lot more expensive. Overall, pine is a lot more expensive than it used to be.”

Norman said poplar has increasingly displaced pine for interior applications where cost is paramount.

"There's not much softwood used for indoor wood projects nowadays because poplar has taken over the pine market," he said. "Poplar is way cheaper than clear pine. It’s also more expensive than furniture-grade pine, but most people, unless they’re doing a highly rustic project like tongue-and-groove wall wrapping, that rustic look is not big everywhere.”

For paint-grade applications, particularly in architectural millwork, customers are choosing poplar or soft maple over pine based largely on cost, Norman added. Price sensitivity continues to influence material selection amid economic uncertainty, even when alternatives might better suit specific applications.

"There's a difference between what it's being sold for and what it's used for," Norman said. "For outdoor work, people want clear pine but it's not cheap, and they ask about poplar instead. I don't think poplar is a great wood to stain or clear coat, but that doesn't mean people don't do it."

Cedar remains the top choice for outdoor applications due to its natural durability and weather resistance but faces similar cost and availability challenges.

"If you're going to own the house for a while, you'd want to switch to cedar, but the cedar is pricey," Norman said, citing trade issues between the U.S. and Canada along with weather-related supply disruptions. "There's still high demand for cedar, but prices have climbed steadily and availability has been rough."

Tom Breen of Keiver-Willard Lumber in Newburyport, Massachusetts, reported similar challenges sourcing higher grades of eastern white pine.

"Most of what we sell in pine is upper grade," Breen said. "A very small percentage of a log goes to upper-grade pine, so it's hard to get because the mills produce so much lower material that nobody wants. They're forced to wait and sell all the low-grade stuff because they can't have warehouses full of lower-grade pine."

According to Breen, only 6 to 8 percent of pine logs yield upper-grade lumber, creating a supply-demand imbalance.

Poplar continues to serve paint-grade applications, though usage patterns have shifted, Breen said.

"A few jobs use it for cabinets, but most shops prefer soft maple because it takes paint better," he said. "Ten years ago, I used to get packages and packages for big molding runs for large houses. You don't see that anymore. Poplar is primarily used for paint-grade moldings, and stair builders use it for painted stairs."

FAS poplar starts at about $3.50/bf depending on location. 

Originally published in the May 2026 issue of Woodshop News.