MBF (Thousand Board Feet)
MBF stands for thousand board feet (M being the Roman numeral for 1,000). It is the standard unit for pricing and trading lumber in wholesale quantities. Lumber prices in industry publications and wholesale markets are quoted per MBF rather than per individual board foot.
In-Depth Explanation
MBF is the workhorse unit of the wholesale lumber industry. When mills, distributors, and large buyers negotiate prices, they speak in terms of dollars per MBF rather than dollars per board foot. For example, a wholesale price of $2,500 per MBF translates to $2.50 per board foot. The M prefix comes from the Roman numeral system, not the metric prefix for thousand (which is lowercase k) — this can cause confusion for those outside the industry. MBF pricing is standard in trade publications like Random Lengths and Hardwood Review, in futures markets, and in reports from industry associations. A typical truckload of hardwood lumber contains roughly 8,000 to 12,000 board feet (8-12 MBF), depending on the species and thickness. For even larger volumes, the industry uses MMBF (million board feet), which is common in forestry reports, mill production statistics, and national trade data.
Usage Example
The sawmill quoted southern yellow pine at $650 per MBF, which the contractor converted to $0.65 per board foot for his project estimate.