Industry News Roundup

As We See It: Missouri, Going Back To Where It All Began

By Scott Dane

In 1994, loggers from across the country met in St. Louis, Mo. to discuss forming the American Loggers Council, hoping to provide a national voice for the logging sector of the forest products industry. The meeting was precipitated by the American Forests and Paper Assn. rolling out the Sustainable Forestry Initiative—a program which was initiated without any input from the logging sector, with disregard for the fact that the burden of implementation and compliance was going to lay primarily upon the loggers.

Spearheaded by Earl St. John, and 33 other logging leaders from across the country, the meeting was convened, and over the course of a few days the framework of the American Loggers Council was developed.

It was a gutsy move, especially considering that loggers were expected to be seen and not heard within the industry. Though loggers had previously been silent and fragmented, these leaders stood up and said, “We are going to be heard. We are not going to be dismissed and ignored. We are going to be represented!”

As we’ve recently celebrated

Independence Day, it is good to recall that the founders of the American Loggers Council, like the founders of the United States, similarly risked personal ramifications, but still “pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes and our honor.”

In retrospect the risk was worthwhile, as with our nation, so it has been for our organization. The battle belongs to the brave.

Today, the American Loggers

Council is unquestionably the

National Voice of the American

Logger, representing more than 30 state and regional associations, nearly 100 Individual Logger

Members (ILM), and all major primary industry vendors. You, as a stakeholder in the timber industry, are represented from coast to coast, north to south, from the landing to the halls of Congress.

Dane

Scott Dane is Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. ALC is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests of timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses across the United States. For more information visit www.amloggers.com.

STP-Tolko Plan Ackerman Expansion

Southeastern Timber Products LLC, an STP Holdings-Tolko In dustries partnership, announced a $150 million U.S. investment in the STP sawmill in Ackerman, Miss. The investment is the next step in an expansion project that will up grade the mill from 120MMBF to 250MMBF annual capacity. The project will conclude in the first quarter of 2024. The mill has al ready implemented some recent upgrades.

“The Board approval of the ex pan sion is a testament to the em ployees at STP-Tolko in Ackerman,” says Billy Van Devender, CEO of Claw Forestry. “There have been significant incremental gains in our production and performance, which sets us up to make this additional investment into our mill and our state. The expansion will also

create jobs and bring value to Mississippi timberland owners, many being family owned.”

Claw Forestry Services affiliates recently announced plans to build a new sawmill in Gloster, Miss., and recently totally upgraded a sawmill in Vicksburg, Miss.

Paper Excellence (Domtar) Buys Resolute

Richmond, BC-headquartered and privately held holding company, Paper Excellence Group, a manufacturer of pulp and paper products with seven facilities in Canada, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Domtar Corp. is acquiring Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products. The cash consideration represents an enterprise value of $2.7 billion, as reported by the companies.

Resolute will become a whollyowned subsidiary of Domtar and continue to operate on a business-asusual basis under the Resolute name. The Resolute management team will remain in place at the company’s headquarters.

Resolute owns or operates 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets, in the U.S. and Canada in four business segments: market pulp, tissue, paper and wood products. It operates four pulp mills, four tissue facilities, seven paper mills and 22 wood products facilities including 17 sawmills with 2.9 billion BF of capacity, two reman facilities, two engineered wood products facilities and a wood pellet plant. It also has 13 power generation assets, including seven hydroelectric facilities and six cogeneration facilities.

Earlier this year, Resolute acquired LP’s 50% interest in two Resolute-LP joint ventures that produce I-joists in Larouche and Saint Prime, Quebec.

In early 2020, Resolute acquired Conifex Timber Inc.’s three sawmills in the U.S. South with combined production capacity of 550MMBF, located in Cross City, Fla.; Glenwood and El Dorado, Ark.

“With this transaction Resolute will accelerate its growth as it gains access to more tools, capital and opportunities to pursue our ambitions with the combined resources of the Paper Excellence Group,” states Remi Lalonde, Resolute President and CEO. “Together we will form a stronger and more resilient, diversified forest products company, positioned to compete on a truly global scale.”

Paper Excellence states it intends to support Resolute management’s existing growth strategy, focused on strategic investments in its lumber and pulp businesses, and maximizing the value of its paper and tissue businesses. Furthermore, the Group in tends to form long-term partnerships with one or more universities in Quebec and Ontario to spearhead innovation in the field of fiberbased biomaterials.

Resolute was previously AbitibiBowater, which changed its name to Resolute in 2011.

Domtar’s principal executive office is in Fort Mill, SC.

Komatsu is acquiring Bracke Forest AB, headquartered in Bräcke, Sweden, which develops, manufactures and sells application-specific attachments for silviculture. Since 2014, Bracke and Komatsu have engaged in joint development by sharing respective technologies and experience. Komatsu will continue to incorporate Bracke’s technologies and expertise in the field of planting in order to accelerate the pace of mechanization. Shown here, the D61EM-23M0 performs automatic traveling, stopping and planting.

Teal Jones Digs Into Louisiana

Teal Jones Group marked the beginning of construction of a $110 million SYP sawmill near Plain Dealing, La. on July 11 with a groundbreaking ceremony.

Canada-based Teal Jones Group had disclosed in December it was considering northwest Louisiana as the site of a sawmill. Site preparation of the 235 acre greenfield facility has begun and is expected to be completed by third quarter 2023. Site work includes creating access to nearby railway infrastructure and timberlands, which the company cited as key factors in its decision to build its first plant in Louisiana.

The company, which is headquartered in British Columbia, operates SYP mills in Antlers, Okla.; Martinsville and Kinsale, Va.; and Liberty, Miss.

The facility will produce a range of

dimension and specialty lumber products with a production capacity of 300MMBF per year. The company plans to sell residual fiber products, including chips and sawdust to local pulp and pellet plants.

Tom Jones, CEO of Teal Jones Group, comments, “We are excited to invest in this project, one that will bring long-term prosperity, jobs and other development opportunities in rail and infrastructure to Plain Dealing, La. Teal Jones is a family owned and operated forestry company with operations spreading throughout

PalletOne Purchases Half Of Dempsey

UFP Industries announced that its affiliate, PalletOne, Inc., has acquired a 50% equity in Dempsey Wood Products, LLC of Orangeburg, SC. The purchase agreement includes options for PalletOne to purchase the remaining 50% after three years.

Founded in 1988 by Ronald Demp sey, Dempsey Wood Products produces kiln-dried lumber, pallet lumber, and other industrial wood products from the Orangeburg location. Dempsey had 2021 sales of $68.9 million, and its management team, including Ronald Dempsey and his son, Parker Dempsey, will continue in management roles.

PalletOne’s investment in Demp sey helps it secure and grow a critical long-term supply source. In 2021, five of Dempsey’s 10 largest customers were UFP affiliates, and nearly 40 other UFP locations could be served by Dempsey.

“Dempsey is led by an experienced team that has produced strong and stable results for more than four decades,” comments Howe Wallace, President of PalletOne. “They’ve been a trusted supplier of ours for many years, and this investment will strengthen our ties, improve our work efficiencies and help satisfy our increasing need for lumber in this market.”

“Having supplied UFP companies for many years, we’re proud to join forces and contribute to their future growth plans,” Parker Dempsey adds. “Together we can expand our capacity and industrial offerings.

This gives our company and our employees exciting new growth opportunities.”

Arbor Gas Inches Closer To Port Allen

Louisiana Economic Development reports that Arbor Renewable Gas LLC, a Houston-based company formed in 2019 that produces renewable gasoline and green hydrogen from wood waste and forest residue, is evaluating West Baton Rouge Parish for an $800 million manufacturing and distribution facility employing carbon capture and sequestration emissionsreduction technology.

Operating as Magnolia Renewable Fuels LLC, the new facility would produce renewable gasoline from wood waste biomass sourced from Louisiana and Mississippi timber operations. The project would create 32 new jobs and at least 110 indirect jobs, and the company estimates development of the facility would generate up to 880 construction jobs at peak construction.

The company plans to locate its greenfield facility at the Port Allen Rail Terminal, which offers railroad and highway accessibility and proximity to timber operations. Magnolia will source southern yellow pine pre-commercial thinnings. Arbor Gas recently announced a similar project in Beaumont, Tex.

Schwab To Distribute Proteng Fire System

Schwab Brothers Hydraulics has entered into a partnership with Proteng, a maker of automatic fire detection/suppression systems, to serve as a distributor for Proteng’s THIA system. Schwab Brothers will bring the product to market in the forest products industry, buying the units at wholesale and selling to the end users, as it does when manufacturing its CHAD

Elmia Wood Back On Track

A good mood and a longing to meet again characterized Elmia Wood 2022 held in June in the forest of Bratteborg outside Jönköping, Sweden. The threeday event attracted 26,000 visitors and 270 exhibitors from 22 different countries. Anders Roman, program manager for Elmia Wood, comments: “The fair ran smoothly, thanks in large part to great teamwork, but also thanks to the terrific engagement of the exhibitors and, not least, among all the visitors. It’s been fantastic to encounter the joy and energy along the visitor trail. It’s obvious that many people have longed for the fair as a meeting place.”

mobile hose crimping device.

Several THIA systems are already in use on logging machines operated by M.A. Rigoni, the affiliated logging company owned by the Schwab family.

Fire prevention is always critical, but never more so than right now. Ryan Wood, director of sales and business development for Schwab Brothers Hydraulics, points out that if you have a catastrophic fire and lose a machine, you may not be able to replace it right away, given ongoing supply chain bottlenecks. This was the driving factor for the Schwab group to get involved with Proteng, he adds: they are constantly seeking solutions to alleviate downtime on today’s logging operations.

THIA is an acronym used to describe the Proteng system; it stands for Tube + Heat = Instant Action. Proteng first used the system to protect racecars, then in boats, airplanes, buses, RVs, buildings, and now forestry equipment. The system consists of a polyamide tube that is filled with FM-200 fire retardant and sealed using hydraulically crimped brass ends. FM-200, or hepafluoropropane, is a state-of-the-art substance that

eliminates many of the drawbacks of other retardants. Unlike dry chemical or foam retardants, it leaves no residue, is nontoxic, and is safe to use on equipment without causing any collateral damage.

Automatic extinguishers that use aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) can be effective, but most are limited to engine compartments and can cause extensive damage. Proteng fire suppression devices are self-contained (require no power source), fully automatic, non-toxic, and noncorrosive. THIA is heat-activated and can even stop a fire before it starts if the temperature gets hot enough. Each THIA tube is installed directly to spots where fires are likely to start. These tubes don’t require bulky valves, hoses, or wires, which make them great as stand-alone units. Tubes are custom fit for each area, available in two temperature ratings, and are maintenance-free. The tubes are installed individually with only one tube protecting each area/component at risk.

Another advantage to the poly amide tube is that it ruptures at the hottest point. Unlike a traditional system with one or two sprinkler heads, this gives the tube unlimited locations to dispense the FM-200 gas as needed rather than in a general spot at the top of the compartment since they respond to heat. As the temperature increases, the liquid turns to gas, then the gas expands and becomes pressurized. At the same time, the polyamide tube becomes softer, rupturing the tube and releasing the extinguishing agent with force (over 300 psi) to the precise area with the highest temperature. The activation takes less than one second.

For more information, contact

Ryan Wood at Ryan@schwab hydraulics.com or call 850-8438615 (office) or 850-838-6487 (cell).