Hardwood Market Report

What Hardwood Market Report does

Hardwood Market Report (HMR), founded in 1922 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is a B2B information company focused exclusively on the North American hardwood products industry. Its core products are three subscription publications — Hardwood Market Report® (weekly benchmark pricing and market commentary), HMR Executive® (monthly analysis of supply and demand drivers including the proprietary HMR Demand Index and HMR Business Activity Snapshot), and HMR Import Newsletter™ (the only North American publication dedicated to imported hardwood pricing) — supported by Hardwood Wizard® (a free, industry-specific search engine for buyers and sellers), historical pricing research, market presentations, and industry surveys. The company's editorial staff draw on direct experience across the hardwood value chain to produce continuous weekly coverage of species-level pricing across green, air-dried, and kiln-dried lumber, cants, crossties, board road, and Oak strip flooring, with archives described as the most extensive historical pricing database in the world for these products.

HMR generates revenue through recurring annual subscriptions to its three core publications, advertising placements across print and digital formats, low-cost merchant listings on the Hardwood Wizard platform, and paid access to historical pricing data for research purposes. Subscriptions are sold through a small direct sales operation (phone and email), with publications delivered digitally 24/7 via hmr.com and the flagship weekly also available in print. Subscriber pricing is not publicly disclosed; customers contact the sales team directly for rate quotes and multi-year advertising contracts. The customer base is horizontal and distributed across the hardwood value chain — primary and secondary manufacturers, logging contractors, foresters, landowners, investment firms, government agencies, and academic institutions — with global circulation but operational concentration in North America.

HMR operates as a subsidiary brand within Fastmarkets, a UK-based global commodity intelligence and market data company, which provides distribution infrastructure and cross-product reach (for example, linking HMR pricing with the Fastmarkets Repair & Remodeling Index). The company has formalized partnerships with major hardwood trade and standards bodies, including the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA), American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Lake States Lumber Association (LSLA), Great Lakes Kiln Drying Association (GLKDA), Real American Hardwood Coalition (RAHC), and the USDA-supported American Hardwood Assured (AHA) due-diligence platform, embedding HMR at the center of the industry's commercial and regulatory information flow.

Name

Hardwood Market Report

Legal name

Fastmarkets Global Limited

Website

https://hmr.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hardwood Market Report is a Memphis-based B2B information company founded in 1922 that publishes weekly and monthly benchmark pricing and market commentary on North American and imported hardwood lumber for manufacturers, foresters, investors, government agencies, and academic institutions, and operates as part of Fastmarkets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forest Products Market Intelligence

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Hardwood Lumber Distribution & Trading (IMAMAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hardwood Lumber Sawmills (IMAMABAB)

Keywords

• Hardwood market intelligence
• Lumber benchmark pricing
• Commodity price reporting
• Forest products publishing
• Imported hardwood pricing

Headquarters

HQ city

Memphis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Publication Subscriptions: Hardwood Market Report is a weekly subscription publication providing benchmark pricing and market commentary. HMR Executive and HMR Import Newsletter are monthly subscription publications. Subscriptions are available globally through the website with 24/7 access for subscribers.
2. Advertising: Advertising opportunities across all HMR publications reaching a highly targeted audience of hardwood industry decision-makers. Print ads in Hardwood Market Report are included in electronic version at no extra cost. Both HMR Executive and HMR Import Newsletter are digital only.
3. Hardwood Wizard Merchant Listings: Low-cost advertising platform for hardwood lumber companies to list products in the Hardwood Wizard search engine with unlimited listings and administrative control.
4. Historical Pricing Research: Historical pricing data access provided for research purposes, with pricing up to five years available for contact and purchase.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hardwood Market Report is a subscription-based information services company that publishes weekly benchmark pricing and market commentary on North American hardwood lumber through its flagship Hardwood Market Report® publication, complemented by two monthly publications (HMR Executive® exploring supply and demand drivers, and HMR Import Newsletter™ covering imported hardwood pricing). Its offering also includes the Hardwood Wizard® search engine for locating hardwood products, a Historical Pricing research database, industry Surveys, visual market Presentations, and targeted Advertising services reaching hardwood industry decision-makers globally.

Product overview

Hardwood Market Report is an information company offering a suite of publications and tools for the hardwood industry. The core offerings consist of three subscription publications: Hardwood Market Report® (weekly benchmark pricing and market commentary), HMR Executive® (monthly analysis of supply and demand factors), and HMR Import Newsletter™ (imported hardwood pricing). Supporting services include Hardwood Wizard® (a free search engine for finding hardwood products), Historical Pricing (research database), Presentations (visual market analysis), and Surveys (industry data collection). All publications are accessible digitally 24/7 through the website, with print versions available for the main weekly report.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hardwood Market Report® Weekly subscription publication providing benchmark pricing and market commentary on North American hardwood lumber, covering green, air dried, and kiln dried lumber activity, pallet lumber, cants, crossties, board road, and Oak strip flooring across Southern, Appalachian, and Northern producing regions. Delivered in print and digital formats to primary and secondary manufacturers, logging contractors, foresters, landowners, investment firms, government agencies, and academic institutions.
• HMR Executive® Monthly subscription publication exploring ideas and issues that have potential to alter North American hardwood lumber supply and demand, including the proprietary HMR Demand Index™ and HMR Business Activity Snapshot displaying key performance indicators for ten major market sectors. Delivered digitally only to subscribers.
• HMR Import Newsletter™ Monthly subscription publication providing accurate pricing and market information specifically for imported hardwood lumber, covering temperate and tropical species for North American importers, distributors, and consumers. Delivered digitally only.
• Hardwood Wizard® Free search engine created specifically for the hardwood industry enabling buyers to search for lumber and forest products by species, region, grade, thickness, and other criteria, with direct email links to sellers. Operates as a low-cost advertising platform for hardwood lumber companies to list products with unlimited listings and administrative control.
• Historical Pricing Research database service providing access to the most extensive historical pricing database in the world for North American hardwood lumber and tropical hardwood species, with pricing data up to five years available for contact and purchase by subscribers and non-subscribers for research purposes.
• Presentations Visual market presentation service offering a different and broader examination of market performance with key indicator results and trend analysis, available free online to subscribers of HMR publications.
• Surveys Industry survey system gathering information from hardwood professionals for market analysis, including regional web surveys for Appalachian, Northern, Southern, Flooring Manufacturers, and Import sectors that underpin HMR's publications.
• Advertising Services Targeted advertising placement across HMR publications and digital channels including social media, HMR publications, digital advertising, and hmr.com, reaching hardwood industry decision-makers worldwide. Print ads in Hardwood Market Report are included in the electronic version at no extra cost.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 years of continuous weekly service to the hardwood industry
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHMR editorial team participates in NHLA Annual Convention with booth presence and presentations. Andy Johnson, HMR Team Leader, presents market insights on industry trends at NHLA events.
• American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHMR publishes news and updates from AHEC including webinars, trade information, and industry initiatives. Collaborative relationship in promoting American hardwood products internationally.
• Lake States Lumber Association (LSLA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHMR Editor Andy Johnson presents at LSLA Annual Winter Meeting. HMR provides market analysis and commentary for LSLA educational events and industry updates.
• Great Lakes Kiln Drying Association (GLKDA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHMR publishes news about GLKDA events and meetings. Industry collaboration on kiln drying best practices and education.
• Northcentral Technical College Wood Technology Center of ExcellenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLSLA Hardwood Lumber Grading Short Course and other wood science programs hosted at NTC facility. Industry education partnership.
• Real American Hardwood Coalition (RAHC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHMR publishes news about RAHC initiatives including the launch of RealAmericanHardwood.pro website for architecture and design professionals.
• American Hardwood Assured (AHA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree deforestation-free due diligence platform funded by USDA and supported by AHEC members. HMR publishes news and updates about the platform for industry stakeholders.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fastmarkets: Fastmarkets is HMR's parent company and a global commodity intelligence and price reporting agency covering forest products, metals, minerals, and agricultural commodities. It is the broadest incumbent peer, providing the institutional infrastructure and adjacent commodity datasets that support HMR's operations and growth opportunities.
• Argus Media: Argus Media is a global commodity price reporting and market intelligence provider with broad coverage across energy, fertilizers, metals, and forest products. It competes with Fastmarkets/HMR as an incumbent price reporting agency serving industrial and commodity markets.
• ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services): ICIS is a global commodity intelligence service providing pricing, market analysis, and forecasting across petrochemicals, energy, and forest products. It is a broad incumbent peer that competes in the same commodity intelligence category as Fastmarkets/HMR.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights (Platts): S&P Global Commodity Insights (including Platts) is a leading global provider of benchmark commodity pricing, news, and analytics across energy, metals, and forest products. It is a broad incumbent peer offering overlapping capabilities to Fastmarkets/HMR in commodity intelligence.

Direct peers

• Random Lengths: Random Lengths is a long-running weekly publication providing benchmark pricing and market intelligence for the softwood lumber, panel, and forest products industries. It is the most direct comparable to HMR in coverage format (weekly pricing report) and target audience (lumber manufacturers, traders, and distributors), differing primarily by hardwood vs. softwood focus.
• ResourceWise (formerly Forest2Market): ResourceWise provides timber and forest products market intelligence, including pricing, supply chain analysis, and biomass data for the global forest products industry. It is a direct peer to HMR in delivering data and analytics to hardwood and softwood value chain participants.
• Crow's Lumber Digest: Crow's Lumber Digest is a trade publication covering the lumber and building materials industry with market data, news, and pricing. It is a direct peer to HMR in format (industry publication for lumber professionals) and audience, though it is broader in coverage and lacks HMR's hardwood specialization.

Emerging players

• Wood Resources International: Wood Resources International provides international timber, sawlog, and pulpwood market reporting with a focus on global wood fiber prices and supply analysis. It is an emerging/regional player with partial overlap to HMR's hardwood pricing mission but with a broader international and pulpwood focus.
• Fisher International: Fisher International provides data, analytics, and consulting for the pulp and paper industry, including benchmarking of mill costs and fiber sourcing. It is an emerging player with thematic overlap to HMR's forest products intelligence, although focused more on pulp/paper than hardwood lumber.

Others

• USITC (United States International Trade Commission) DataWeb: USITC publishes official U.S. import/export trade data including hardwood lumber flows that complement or substitute for portions of HMR's Import Newsletter. It is an adjacent public-sector data provider rather than a direct competitor, but it is referenced by HMR's audience and competes for some of the same analytical use cases.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=oMVsOnMkm6Q
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hardwood-market-report
• Facebookfacebook.com/Hardwood-Market-Report-217594692168872

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hardwood Market Report