Industry Developments

The 2009 Special Report on U.S. Hardwood Markets notes that pallets, crating and railroad ties continue to be critical uses of lower grade hardwood lumber, accounting for more than 38% of hardwood usage in the U.S. last year, according to Hardwood Manufacturers Assn.’s annual TrendTracker report. Annual tie demand rose from 18 million in 2004 to 21 million in 2008 and unlike grade lumber prices, which have steadily declined since 2004, tie prices have remained steady. With the push toward energy-efficient means of transportation, the demand for railroad ties will remain an important sector.

Furniture making remains the largest use of grade lumber, followed by cabinetry, dimension/millwork/molding, and flooring. Since 2000, however, more than 300 wood furniture plants have been shuttered as imports have taken over two-thirds of the U.S.

Cutting With Confidence

Roseburg Forest Products (RFP) has been a well-respected, family-owned business for more than 70 years. It began in 1936 as a small lumber company in Dillard with 25 employees. Over the years RFP has grown into a large forest products organization consisting of more than a dozen manufacturing facilities, more than 700,000 acres of timberland and several thousand employees. As a result of delivering on its promises to customers, communities and employees, Roseburg Forest Products has earned a reputation as a trusted name in the industry.

RFP’s sawmill in Dillard has been through several major expansions, and in 2008 manufactured nearly 400MMBF of quality lumber. For 2009, it is on pace to produce even more. At first glance, it may seem that for the sawmill, production is king. The Roseburg leadership, however, has recently stepped up its focus on maximizing product value through mix optimization, and this focus is adding dollars to the bottom line.

Roseburg Repeat by Henry Spelter

A vintage year for sawmilling 2008 was not. In an industry strongly driven to produce, we were apprehensive that firms would be more shy than usual about divulging their 2008 activities. So this year we cast a wider net but, in the end, 149 out of the 200 mills appearing on the Top 200 list, and 48 out of the top 50, volunteered their numbers. For the remainder, capacities usually serve as a good proxy because most mills strive to operate near their limits in good years. This year, however, that approach was unreliable because operating rates varied widely. Among our respondents they ranged from 17 to 107% with an average of 72% (Figure 1). By contrast, 2008 data from the Western Wood Products Assn. (WWPA) implied a 68% U.S. utilization rate. Therefore, to more realistically represent non-respondents, I applied the 68% factor to their capacities, modified by whatever information was available about downtime at specific mills during 2008.

Saving Hardwood by Jennifer McCary

Anderson-Tully Lumber Co. (ATCO) is one of few sawmills in the country that has been ramping up rather than cutting back production this year. The hardwood lumber producer is still in the debugging mode after completing an $8 million sawmill upgrade at Mill K at the end of 2008. “For all practical purposes, full startup didn’t occur until January of 2009,” according to Richard Wilkerson, Executive Vice President, who adds that the post-startup phase since then has met company goals.

The project is expected to produce a 30% increase in production with a throughput goal of 16,000 bd. ft. per hour based on projected species mix (i.e. running pecan at 13,900 bd. ft; poplar at 18.750 bd. ft.). Budgeted production capacity is 73MMBF operating on a two shift schedule, which would make this mill the largest hardwood lumber producer in the U.S.

Equipment & Supplier News

O.T. (Tommy) Fulghum, Jr., a leader of machinery supplier Fulghum Industries, died April 15 in Augusta, Ga. He was 78.

In 1956, Tommy, his father and brother invented the Fulghum rosserhead debarker, which catapulted the Fulghum name in the forest products industry. The family organized Fulghum Industries in Wadley to manufacture log handling equipment and equipment for chip mills. Fulghum Enterprise was another arm of the family business for the manufacture and sale of forklifts.

Hard News In The Making

Coastal Plywood Co., a division of Coastal Forest Resources that operates a plywood mill in Havana, Fla., has purchased the debt from International Paper on Chapman Forest Products’ sawmill and plywood mill in Chapman, Ala., but it doesn’t necessarily mean the mills will continue operations, according to reports.

The Chapman operations were in the process of shutting down in early July. A Coastal Plywood spokesman said the company is evaluating the situation. The properties include 1,500 acres surrounding the plants. “We felt like this was a good investment for us and a good fit, but it’s too premature to say which direction it will lead,” says Travis Bryant, vice president and CFO of Coastal Forest Resources, which includes Coastal Plywood, Coastal Treating and Coastal Timberlands.

Bob Pamplin by Rich Donnell

Another industry person of note died recently and this may have slipped by some of you. Robert B. Pamplin died June 24 at age 97 in Dunthorpe, Oregon, near Portland.

Who was Bob Pamplin, some of you youngsters might be asking?

Pamplin was the man who came up with the most remarkable company spin-off scheme ever conceived.

New Products & Technologies

Redwood Plastics, maker of Redco 750 polyurethane sprockets, introduces the Redco Snap It Sprocket, a new sprocket design that requires no bolts, no tools and no welding to install. The sprocket provides reduced cost, less chain and equipment wear and significant noise reduction. The Snap It Sprocket is easy and quick to assemble. Simply match the arrows on the a-plate and snap together. The sprocket is designed to be interchangeable to reduce inventory levels and is less expensive than split steel sprockets.

Redco 750 sprockets have excellent abrasion and wear resistance with high impact values. Not only are they less expensive than steel, they reduce noise levels and have a longer wear life. The sprocket is available for H-78, H-130, C-188 and 81X chains and is compatible with split hubs and a-plates. All hub bores are finished to size with running clearances and grease fitting. Call 800-667-0999 in Canada or 866-755-2684 in the U.S.

Only If You Can Prevent GE Fires by Rich Donnell

In case you haven’t noticed it, the latest target of environmental groups is the genetically engineered tree. I wasn’t aware of this until I received a statement the other day from the Stop GE Trees Campaign. You probably just felt the hair rising on your neck. For good reason.

The statement indicated that the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) has received 17,500 comments from the public concerning USDA’s earlier approval for ArborGen to plant 260,000 genetically engineered eucalyptus trees on a total of 330 acres across seven states in the Southern U.S. The statement also said that of those 17,500 comments, only 39 were in favor of planting the trees.