No Easy Task by May Donnell

With members feeling the heat of the economic recession, forest products industry trade associations are scrambling to find ways to keep from getting burned as well.

“We’re basically looking down every avenue we have to see how we can save money, even down to renegotiating our phone service contract,” says Linda Jovanovich, director of operations for the Hardwood Manufacturers Assn., Pittsburgh, Pa. “We’re looking hard at everything.”

Jovanovich is just one of several association directors contacted who report that the current economic climate has prompted tough choices and more than a few changes. Recently, HMA eliminated the position of executive vice president to free up money for working capital.

On the Mend? by Rich Donnell

Most of the softwood sawmills contacted recently by Timber Processing have curtailed operations to some degree and while there doesn’t appear to be a perfect formula for going about it, one of the factors is timing.

Vaagen Brothers Lumber, based in Colville, Wash., for example, is operating (as of mid-August) at 46% of capacity. It took its random length facility at Colville down in the spring for seven weeks to stabilize inventories, and the mill is now running on a one-shift basis at 50 hours per week. The company’s stud mill and chipping operation in Usk, Wash. had been running off and on as logs became available at the “right” price, and the mill is currently running 40 hours per week, with most production bound for Colville for drying and surfacing, and some product sold green.

Seeking Up Turn by Dan Shell

In these tough economic times, sawmill machinery suppliers are just as hard hit as the lumber mills: Large orders are hard to come by, there’s less overall capital spending by mills, and that means more competition for equipment suppliers. Among sawmill machinery manufacturers, there’s a similar need to match company output with market demand, which can be accomplished any number of ways.

To ride out the downturn, suppliers are initiating joint ventures, rolling out new products, concentrating on service work, pursuing offshore markets and also diversifying into other industries.

Equipment & Supplier News

PCS VacDry USA, LP, has sold two VacDry Model VK-4.0M vacuum kilns to New Zealand Sustainable Forest Products. The kilns are expected to become operational by late September.

The VK-4.0M kilns, each with a capacity of 4,000 BF (9.5m3), will be part of a new sawmill venture of NZSFP. The sawmill, located near Reefton on the South Island (West Coast), will process sustainably logged New Zealand hardwood.

The VacDry kilns will be used to create the world’s first vacuum drying facility specializing in native red and silver beech, according to the companies.

Hard News In The Making

New England Wood Pellet LLC (NEWP) is buying Norbord’s Deposit, NY land and property and will commence construction of a wood pellet manufacturing facility.

Norbord’s intentions are to continue manufacturing medium density fiberboard at the facility until sometime before the closing. NEWP will then begin significant site modifications and construction of a 100,000 ton per year pellet manufacturing plant once all state and local permits are secured.

“The Deposit plant represents an attractive growth opportunity for our company because of its outstanding location relative to Northeastern demand for pellet fuel, its well-established wood supply, its excellent highway and rail access, and its exceptional labor force,” says Steven Walker, President and CEO of NEWP.

New Products & Technologies

LMI’s DynaVision chroma+scan 3300 scanners have assisted mills in achieving a higher level of recovery from each board produced. Designed primarily for the green side edger or trimmer, these scanners feature high density laser profiling, integrated LED lighting and true color vision in a single sensor package.

The chroma+scan 3300 provides 3D profile resolution of 8.0 mm (0.3 in). With a scan rate of 2000 Hz, capable of running at 200 FPM, very fine profile resolution improves optimization, enabling mills to better detect board edge shape, increasing ability to produce higher grade lumber.

Pulling Together to Keep From Falling Apart by Rich Donnell

We’ve noted now and then that it can be difficult to gain a sawmill company’s permission to allow us into their mill to take photos and interview their key managers. Usually we come knocking because the mill has done some major machinery upgrading. Some companies are more open than others about letting us in. Such is the scenario when times are good. When times are such as they are, our endeavor becomes extremely more difficult. One reason is that far fewer mills have done any machinery work. Another reason is that when the economy is difficult, many mills are simply hesitant to receive any publicity. After all, when an article appears in our magazine, it basically portrays a stoppage in time—this is how it was, in this mill, on this day. But in today’s trying environment, it’s very possible that some form of curtailment was implemented the day after our visit, or an entire mill was shut down, for the next six months.