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Betsy Bates

Timber Markets Stable, Recent News Points To Stronger Markets Ahead

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Timber prices during the first quarter of 2018 remained relatively stable, with no real upward or downward trends, but several recent developments may point to better markets ahead for tree growers, the head of one of the nation’s largest forest management firms reports.

Marshall Thomas, president of F&W Forestry Services, writes in his firm’s spring newsletter that recent announcements of new greenfield sawmills in the South, coupled with planned expansions at existing mills, should lead to greater demand for sawtimber-size trees in the future.

“Increased demand is ultimately the answer to our problem of oversupply on the sawtimber side, so these announcements are positive news for tree growers,” Thomas writes.

Thomas notes that this good news involves long-term impacts.  “But maybe that isn’t so bad,” he adds, because “any business that can anticipate a long trend of slowly rising prices is in pretty good shape.”

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2018 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

EPA Policy Affirms Forest Biomass Is Carbon Neutral

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has set the stage for a new policy at his agency regarding forestry and the treatment of forest biomass as an energy resource.

In a letter to New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, Pruitt laid out EPA plans for treating biomass and the forest products industry going forward.

“Understanding the importance of the forest products industry to New Hampshire, and recognizing the environmental, economic, and social benefits our nation as a whole derives from its vast resources, I write to highlight the work the Environmental Protection Agency has undertaken and is continuing to undertake to advance and promote the responsible use of those forest resources,” Pruitt wrote.

In a departure from the previous administration’s policy, Pruitt stated that “energy derived from biomass may in appropriate circumstances be recognized as carbon neutral.”

“Continuing to be responsible stewards of our nation’s forests and lands while utilizing all domestic forms of biomass to meet our energy needs are mutually compatible goals,” Pruitt said.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2018 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

Greenfield Sawmills Coming To The South, CLT To The Northeast

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During the first quarter of 2018, four announcements were made of plans to build greenfield sawmills in the U.S. South.  Combined, the companies making the investments plan to spend $480 million on facilities that are projected to have a total annual production capacity of more than one billion board feet of lumber once operational.  In 2017, the U.S. South produced 18.2 BBF of lumber, according to Lumber Track, a publication of the Western Wood Products Association.

Georgia-Pacific and Canfor announced they will build new mills in Georgia, near Augusta; Rex Lumber Co. is planning a new facility in Southeast Alabama; and Canada’s Tolko Industries is partnering with Louisiana-based Hunt Forest Products to build a new mill in Urania.  These announcements come on top of other capital investments lumber companies are making in their existing facilities to bump up production capacity.

Also during the first quarter, two manufacturers of cross-laminated timber (CLT)—a relatively new but rapidly growing wood construction product in the U.S.—have announced plans to locate facilities in Maine, the first in the Northeast.  The two companies plan to invest $52 million on facilities that will initially produce more than 10 million board feet of CLT annually.

North Carolina-based LignaTerra Global, LLC, plans to build its CLT production plant in Millinocket.  Montana-based SmartLam, LLC, the nation’s first manufacturer of CLT, said it will announce the location of its new facility in the next two months.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2018 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW