AGING LIKE A FINE...SAWMILL?

Often I wonder what the future holds. I close my eyes and try to think 10, 15, 20 years down the line—30 years seems like a lifetime. Right now, in this moment, I’m a young mom, with young kids. I am in the thick of long nights at the ballpark and practicing spelling words in the car. It’s hard to think about that in 30 years, my perfect little boys will be older than I am currently. Likely they will have families of their own and little ones of their own who for some astonishing reason can drink three gallons of milk per week without a care in the world.

When I gaze into my crystal ball it is hard to see what is coming down the line. Does the sawmill of the future have digital twins for every machine, like Tesla cars? That sure would make for an interesting maintenance call wouldn’t it.

“Yes, hello, please go pull the headrig for Johnson Lumber in Ruston, La. It’s throwing a code and we aren’t sure why. The robots are spinning on their wheels in circles here.”

Or is the sawmill of the future about not just automation in grading and breakdown, but complete automation, like a small army of robots pulling lumber? Is it like “The Jetsons” but with 2x4s and a robot voice trying to learn how to say “kiln” properly?

One thing I know for certain is that like my children aging, what comes in the immediate next might not be revolutionary: A “mature” industry such as lumber manufacturing many times measures progress in constant innovations rather than leaps and bounds yet remains continually moving forward technologically.

The army of robot operators might be on the horizon, all you need to do is look up the video of welding robots BID Group uses to machine parts to know what innovations they are likely concocting. In the immediate future, we as an industry only need to look at mills like this issue’s cover, Sierra-Pacific in Noti, Ore., to see that keeping up with the times is not only possible but profitable—Jetsons-esque robots optional; complete rebuild optional. Old dogs can be taught new tricks. You don’t have to toss the baby out with the bath water.

Greenfield mills sure are sexy: all bright shiny paint and the latest and greatest machines. Of course, they all run like well-oiled Ferraris, or at least most do…eventually.

But there’s just something about the resilience of a facility that we can all admire, the vintage Porsche 911 that has seen some things, and well you know what I mean. The engine purrs with a good overhaul every so often. And you gotta change the tires.

The mill in Noti has seen ownership changes over its 50-year history and of course machinery changes, but what has remained is the core—a good timber basket, a focus on quality, a niche market in green lumber, and a willingness to try new things. Isn’t that what we all hope for the future? Remaining true to who we are while staying willing to try new things? If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.

The stacker project at Noti is a great example of what I mean: two longtime industry suppliers provide solid and productive innovations that provide benefits to production, working conditions and customer satisfaction. No robots needed. TP

Vaagen Thankful For Support

The outpouring of support for Vaagen Fibre Canada’s Midway, BC sawmill, upon the early January Vaagen family announcement of the mill’s impending closure, was substantial, but apparently hasn’t changed the disappointing outcome, at least for now.

The Vaagen family, whose Vaagen Brothers Lumber headquarters and sawmill is in Colville, Wash., announced on January 6 the Midway mill, which Vaagen had been operating for more than 10 years, was shutting down indefinitely. At the time, Vaagen indicated it was looking for solutions to keep the operation going, and encouraged those impacted throughout the Boundary, West Kootenay, and Okanagan regions to appeal to the Ministry of Forests.

Vaagen Fibre Canada was a non-tenured mill and thus did not have forest licenses to manage Crown forests, which means it purchased all logs on the open market including the procurement of logs from local private landowners and woodlot owners.

“Although our team has been creative for years in finding logs to run our mill, there are a few challenges that have compounded for us. This is an access to wood fiber at market price issue,” the company stated in January. “We have put forward several solutions to the Ministry of Forests.”

However, in a March announcement President & CEO Duane Vaagen said the mill ran through its last log on February 23, “and many of our dedicated employees must seek out new work opportunities. Their commitment and pride over the last several months, when they knew things were coming to an end, was beyond any of our expectations. We are so proud of our team and want to send out the most heartfelt ‘thank you’ for giving everything until the end.”

Vaagen noted that since the January announcement hundreds of people—employees and their families, contractors and vendors, suppliers, local community leaders, forestry associations, and others— reached out to express their disappointment and asked what they could do to help. Hundreds of letters and messages via social media were sent, and numerous phone calls were made to decisionmakers in Victoria.

The March announcement stated: “Vaagen family are expressing their appreciation to their many partners for their years of relationship, including employees and con- tractors, local community members, the Osoyoos Indian Band, West Boundary Community Forest, Interior Lumber Manufacturers’ Association, local area Mayors, Councillors, and Regional District Directors, and local Ministry of Forest staff.

“For those of you who called your local MLA or wrote a letter, our collective voices were heard loud and clear, so thank you. You have inspired our family to continue looking for economic opportunities in this community and we will look forward to the time where we can share what those opportunities turn into.”

Mercer Gains Clt Contract

Mercer International Inc. reported it has signed its first major mass timber project contract with a large consumer products retailer. The project, which is composed of crosslaminated timber panels, gluelaminated beams and connector elements, is expected to utilize four months of capacity at Mercer’s Spokane, Wash. facility on a one-shift basis over the course of 2023.

Mercer didn’t reveal the name of the customer, but it’s possible it is Walmart for Walmart’s new home office campus in Bentonville, Ark. Walmart and mass timber producer Structurlam recently severed plans for Structurlam as the exclusive supplier to the Walmart multi-building project.

Juan Carlos Bueno, Mercer President and CEO, states, “We are delighted to conclude our first major mass timber contract. Our customer has selected mass timber for its appearance, structural integrity, fire resistance, construction efficiency and carbon footprint that only mass timber construc- tion can provide. We expect that this is the first of more major projects to come as Mercer’s innovative product line and services become more recognized in the growing mass timber construction space.”

Mercer International Inc. is a global forest products company with operations in the U.S., Germany and Canada with an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of pulp, 960MMBF of lumber, 140,000 m3 of cross-laminated timber, 17 million pallets and 150,000 tonnes of wood pellets.

Mercer purchased the new high production Spokane CLT facility in 2021 upon the bankruptcy of previous operator, Katerra.

Canfor Report Mirrors Industry

Canfor Corp. reported 2022 adjusted operating income of

$1.3 billion, while showing a fourth quarter operating loss of $164 million. The company pointed to a significant weakness in lumber market demand in Q4 that led to a sharp deterioration in lumber pricing late in the year; Q4 lumber production impacted by the continuation of reduced operating schedules in Western Canada; pulp production impacted by fiber shortages and challenging winter weather conditions.

After year end, the company announced a restructuring of lumber and pulp operations in British Columbia to better align manufacturing capacity with available long-term fiber supply and create a stronger and more sustainable footprint.

2022 overall was another strong year for Canfor, with the strength in global lumber market fundamentals experienced late in 2021 continuing well into 2022. Significant lumber demand led by solid activity in both new home construction and the repair and remodel segment encountered tight supply due to supply chain disruptions. The result was ongoing global pricing pressure and high benchmark lumber prices through the first part of the year.

As the year progressed, rising interest rates and inflation put significant downward pressure on housing affordability and global lumber market demand, leading to a rapid decline in global lumber market pricing in the latter part of the year. In response, the company implemented reduced operating schedules at its Western Canadian operations. The company’s strong earnings, however, reflect the continued benefit of its global diversification strategy which helped to moderate these challenges in British Columbia.

Early in 2023, after an extensive analysis of its pulp