Business activity is largely still relatively slow on US softwood lumber markets in mid-February. According to Random Lengths, the market is currently being governed by spot purchases for covering volumes required at short notice. Buyers are currently still refraining from concluding longer-term contracts for substantial volumes. As such, there are not yet any recognisable signs of the upswing in demand anticipated by market players. The slow pace of business activity to date is also reflected in the development in prices in the last few weeks. According to the surveys carried out by Random Lengths, at $362/1,000 bdft the average Framing Lumber Composite Price (FLCP) stagnated at the end of last week almost at the level of the preceding weeks. The FLCP is currently around 7% short of the figure for the same period of last year.