Walnut market remains strong

Black walnut has been a long-time favorite of furniture and cabinet makers for its strength, workability, and rich dark tones and hues. The design community likes it, too, especially now,and the increased demand has created some competition for the best logs, according to hardwood suppliers interviewed by Woodshop News.

“We have our own little niche in the walnut market,” says Rick Hearne of Hearne Hardwoods in Oxford, Pa., which offers live-edge slabs and wide boards. “Our competition is often export log buyers, although the domestic market is still very strong and I haven’t seen any downward pressure as far as prices domestically.

“When we do buy walnut logs, we’ll often buy the veneer-grade logs and our competition would be the veneer mills. They are highly prized logs because they [provide] a huge yield. But those are the same logs that give us long, clear book-matched boards which a lot of our customers are looking for in premium grades in the walnut.”

Hearne says the slab market is still good but somewhat diluted due to consumer hype for live-edge boards in recent years. 

“When we first started doing this, we were among the first few people in the country that had slabs and now there are three or four here in Chester County (Pa.) alone that do it. I talk to a lot of people who say the slab business is not as good as it used to be. But I think if you look at the overall sales, by the number of people that are now into it, there’s still a very good volume of natural edge pieces being sold.”

Walnut (4/4 to 16/4) is selling for $6 to $25/bf at Hearnes. Prices are higher for special orders.

On the veneer side, Greg Engle at Certainly Wood in East Aurora, N.Y., says there’s strong interest for plain-sliced, quartered, and thicker cuts. 

“We’re seeing a big uptick in veneers approaching a thickness of 1/16”. We’re finding that customers really prefer that extra material being there for projects, whether it’s for furniture or for architectural interiors,” says Engle.

“The demand is still strong. Europeans are here shopping extensively, whether they’re going to mills that already produce the veneers or buying the logs themselves and having them custom cut and exported. So, when I can’t find quantities or qualities here state-side, I generally fall back on European vendors for the availability of black walnut. I’m not sure when it’s going to dry up, but as soon as the inventory arrives, the orders have already been put in for the next round.”

Originally published in the April 2025 issue of Woodshop News.