Weyerhaeuser Selling Shortlines

Wcycrhaeuser Co.. Federal Way. Wa.. has agrccd to sell its sir short-haul railroacls-including thc Columbia & Cowlitz Railway and Wcvcrhaeuser Woods Railroad in southwcst Washin-ston to Patriot Rail Corp.. Bocit Raton. Fl.

The other lirur lines arc thc DcQueen & Eastcrn arrd the Tcxas. Oklahorna & Eastcrn railroads in sotttheast Oklahonrl and southwcst Arkansas. ancl thc Coltlcn Trianglc and Mississippi & Skuna Vallev raillolcls irr Mississippi.

Combincd. thc six railnrads opcratc orer 160 Iriilcs o1' track. handling about 60.000 carloacls o1' lreight annually.

The deal is crpected to closc in thc lburth quarter.

Cabinet Demand Recovery Ahead

U.S. dernand lirr cabinets nationvn idc is forccast to clin'tb J.4o/c annually through 20 l-l to rcach Sl-5.2 billion. prcdicts the Frccdonit Group.

From 200.1 to l(X)9. dcntand decreasccl :1.117, a !ear.

Kitchen cabinets. which account lirr ll0% of total cabinct production. shoulcl risc 7.8olo annually. lvhilc bathroont cabine-ts increase 6.c)% a year.

Cabinets elsewhcrc in the home grcu 0.9ii annuallv fnrrn 2(X)4 to 2009. with thc rate cxpectccl to.junrp to 1.8% a 1,ear ttl 20 14.

IWPA RevisesVeneerStandard

Intcrnational Wood Products Association hus applttved a ncw' r'oluntary IWPA Cradc "Product Stanclar.cl l.or Importcd Rotary Cut Wood Venccr & Platfbrrns."'fhc prcvious standard was rclcased l0 r'cars ago.

"lt uas tinrc to do an overhaul." said IWPA vcnccr conrnrittee chair Bronson Neu'bLrrger. Clarkc Venecrs & I)lywood. "Taking into lrccount that vcncet' laces continuc to be thinner ancl thinner. r'ue realizccl thut itditlstmcnts to thc standard had to bc nradc."

'l'hc ncu spccs cstablish rttinintutrr t'cquir.cntents for circh grudc. and rcflcct thc currcnt trencl in thc wa1'\'eneers lurc bcin-u producccl lnd uscd in venecr and plv"l'ood markcts. "lt's a better explattittion ttf u'hat rrtills nccci to knclvr in orclcr to satisfy cust()rlrcrs' clclttand. itltcl uhitt Llscrs can e xpcct l'r-orn suppliers." aclclccl Ne uburgcr.

Oregon Harvest Down

Orcgon's tinrber harvcst in 2(X)9 was thc lor"'cst at 2.75 hillion bcl . ft.-sincc thc nriddle o1'thc Great Deprcssion. according to a ncw rcport. And e\pcrts (lon't e xpcct anything bctter this vear firr thc nation's lat'gcst tirrr ber-producing state.

"Thc prclrrrinaries I havc cortiittg this y'car shtlw it's going to bc.just aboLrt the salttc.'siticl statc fbrcst ecttnonrist Garl [-cttnurn. who compilcd thc ncw report.

Butch Bclnhirrclt. spokesperson lirr the Westeln Woocl Products Association. noted. "This bitsirtcss cnlit'otttttcttt is sonrething rnost pcoPlc haVen't sccn in thcir carecrs. Tliis is n<lt once in a gcncnrtion. It's far lrcvottd that. This is. pcrhlps. once in a ccnturv t1'pe stul'l'."

Robbie Robinson. purt o\\'ttcl'attd c.c.o. llt Starfirc l-unrbcr. Cottagc Cirorc. agrees. "Wc'r'c running thc sar',nrill onc ueek. thc plancr the nexl wcck. trving to do cvcrvthins *ith thc sllnc crcw 1o keep vu'olkirtg lrt all. Wc didrt't ci.cn do that in thc'tlOs." he saicl "l'ttt lltrious. Er.'cry pllcc you look. solllcoltc is reasonabll itrtrious."

Trealed lumber is pure torture if you're a SCIG{. lt's a conosive, chemical-laden, especially nasty place that eaFscrews alive. Luckily, extensive third-party testin g perform@ accredited ICC research facility confirmed what we've always known; when it comes t0 preventing c0r0si0n caused by treated lumber, Climatek has you certifiably covered. For a copy of the ICC test results and a closer look at the hst scrcws available, visit wwngrkfasleners.com

Hampton Hopes to Restart

Warrenton Mill in Late Spring

Hampton Affiliates' sawmill in Warrenton, Or., could re-open by late spring next year, if the economy picks up.

"If there's a little improvement. we'll open the mill," said c.e.o. Steve Zika. "We're investing money, it's good for long-term competitiveness." He's hoping to restart between April and June.

Hampton bought the mill from Weyerhaeuser in December 2009 and immediately closed it for extensive upgrades, including log-scanning equipment and a new boiler.

The mill's new manager will be Bill Slagle, who formerly managed Hampton's mill in Willamina, Or.

SPI PowerS Up, Powers Down

Sierra Pacific Industries, Anderson, Ca., has suspended production at its power plant in Loyalton, Ca., as it awaits approval to expand the biomass facility at its sawmill in Anderson.

SPI blamed the late August closure in Loyalton on decreased timber sales in the area, creating an insufficient supply of fuel to feed the 20-megawatt cogeneration plant. The constrained timber supply earlier led SPI to close the power plant for several months late last year and shutter its Loyalton sawmill several years prior.

The current facility in Anderson produces 5 megawatts of power for the mill. Once expanded, the plant will produce 3l megawatts-enough to power 24,800 homes-and the excess will be sold to a power company.

"We won't have a problem selling it," said SPI spokesperson Mark Pawlicki.