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Prices and effects, from very recent enquiries. This is Highland information but probably national and international. On timber prices. I was hoping to buy all non-structural timber locally in the Highlands, where there are many saw-mills. The prices are obviously (?) better than after handling through merchants. Wrong! One helpful person explained that their prices are rising to match availability too, just dealing with their primary markets of fencing and pallet wood. Quoting rule of thumb for local pine products as a shocking £500/m3. So he advised that, for example, they cannot ever compete with imported cls prices. A blow to our costs as I had estimated at a lower price (for secondary timber) than the merchants'. He also said that OSB board that is made at Inverness is mostly going to the US where the price is very high. The Scottish timber is all much wider grained than that from cold countries, so isn't generally of structural quality. Will the prices settle and fall? Anybody's guess. For timber I reckon it will a bit as it is not from EU, and a balance may be found. On the other hand, the foresters can control the price by not cutting the trees. EU supplies cement by the tanker from Greece, bricks from Belgium, and I am assuming they are 1. slow to recover from lock-down, 2. having to sort out import protocols for GB, 3. is there import duty by GB? One Inverness area project has closed the site for 6 weeks minimum, in the hope of materials becoming available at all, never mind the price. Perhaps if more sites could do that, or alter the program, then things would come under control more quickly. We have an area of roof to dismantle, and will be trying to harvest whatever timber we can. We have also altered our works programme from 18 months to 2 years, and are starting slowly.