Supply of top-grade walnut is waning

The top grade of black walnut (Juglans nigra) is becoming increasingly difficult to source. Lumber suppliers interviewed by Woodshop News point to several factors, including heavy harvesting of a species that grows relatively sparsely, the export of walnut logs, and rising demand for premium material. This shrinking supply of high-grade stock is making it difficult to secure enough material to meet demand while pushing prices higher.

“It’s very difficult to get but there’s a very steady market for it,” says Lou Irion of Irion Lumber, a source for unsteamed FAS walnut in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. “We have a lot of quartersawn walnut, too, which some people really desire, and that’s hard to get. So, we’re selling plainsawn and quartersawn walnut. The demand is definitely there.”

Among domestic hardwoods, Irion says walnut is probably the hottest wood out there in terms of price and desire.

“It’s a minor species. It doesn’t grow like red oak or ash or something like that. We’ve been hammering it for years, and they’re taking the smaller trees.”

Irion says walnut exports add another layer of pressure to the domestic market. Logs can be exported at smaller diameters than domestic mills typically accept, increasing competition for the available resource. 

“Walnut, just because of the fact that it grows in small little patches here and there, a tree here, a tree there, and they’ve been cutting it like crazy for the last 15 years or so, I can’t believe there’s anything still on the market but there still is,” he says.

Irion’s company buys much of its walnut already sawn, with suppliers sorting out the higher grades. 

“The problem with walnut is it’s an open-grown tree, so it has a lot of defects. We buy from people who pull the top grade for us because we just don’t have a market for the lower grades,” says Irion.

“You have to pay a lot of money to get the good lumber, because so many of the logs are being exported uncut. So many sawmills here are closing for lack of business. If we were selling lumber instead of logs, it would be better for our country, but it doesn’t work that way.” 

Chris Johnson of C.P. Johnson Lumber in Elkwood, Virginia also handles large volumes of walnut, primarily for a more localized customer base. He says the demand for walnut in large architectural projects peaked several years ago before shifting to white oak, particularly rift-sawn white oak.

Johnson estimates that about 98 percent of walnut is steamed to darken the sapwood, allowing larger users to incorporate more of the board into their finished work. But the highest grades, with minimal sapwood, remain difficult to source. 

“That’s what makes walnut different in the quality. The really good stuff is hard to get and in strong demand.”

Like Irion, Johnson points to log exports as a major factor affecting availability and price. 

“Walnut logs are one of the main species of logs that’s aggressively exported to China and Vietnam, so that drives the availability of logs and the price of logs,” he says.

Originally published in the October 2026 issue of Woodshop News.