WEF is NOT a commodity lumber company, $1786/k realized. Our average realized lumber price was
a record $1,786 per thousand board feet, an increase of 12% from the second quarter of 2021. Strong pricing across our specialty lumber products was offset by weaker pricing for commodity lumber, which had peaked in the comparative quarter of 2021. Lumber revenue also benefited from the 4% appreciation of the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate from the comparative period.
In the near-term, pricing for our Cedar timbers and appearance products is expected to remain strong, while demand for our Cedar decking, trim and fencing products remains muted. We are reducing production volumes for these products to manage market inventories.
Demand and pricing for industrial products in the Niche segment remain strong, this includes timbers for the oil and gas sector, and cross arms for the utilities market.
Our Japan specialty products have performed exceptionally well over the last year. A weaker yen may challenge price realizations, and in-market inventory levels are likely to limit sales volumes in the near-term.
We expect sawlog markets to remain strong due to a combination of reduced supply and strong demand. We expect pulp log pricing to continue to trade in a narrow band due to limited market competition. Sawmill residual chip pricing is expected to remain strong supported by higher Northern Softwood Bleach Kraft pulp pricing in China.
Rising inflation has begun to impact our business, and we anticipate that cost pressures and market volatility may continue until inflation returns to a more normalized range. To date we have been able to partly mitigate these cost impacts through higher pricing for our products, cost mitigation strategies and certain capital projects. We will continue to evaluate the market supply demand dynamics and seek to manage the impact of high inflation on our business and market supply and demand.