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A Hatton-Brown Publication
Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334.834.1170 FAX: 334.834.4525
Volume 45 • Number 5 • June 2020 Founded in 1976 • Our 464th Consecutive Issue
Publisher: David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Senior Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Senior Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Patrick Dunning Publisher/Editor Emeritus: David (DK) Knight
Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com
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THE ISSUES
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NEWSFEED
Getting A Reading On The Survey Lee Simpson Stood Tall For LP
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SOFTWOOD LUMBERMEN
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HARDWOOD LUMBERMEN
Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 334.699.7837 800.669.5613 • bdevane7@hotmail.com
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MACHINERY ROW
Advertising Sales Representatives: Southern USA
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AT LARGE
Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Online Content/Marketing: Jacqlyn Kirkland
Randy Reagor P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 904.393.7968 • FAX: 334.834.4525 E-mail: reagor@bellsouth.net
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Working Through The Pandemic
Yet Another Hurdle To Jump
Successful Remote Planer Startup
OSU’s Waring Wins Wallenberg Prize
MAIN EVENTS
Here’s What’s Still In The Pipeline
COVER: The annual Sawmill Operations & Capital Expenditure Survey reveals the current inner-workings of softwood and hardwood lumber operations in the United States. Story begins on PAGE 10. (Jessica Johnson photo from Teal-Jones in Antlers, Okla.)
Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 905.666.0258 • FAX: 905.666.0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.timberprocessing.com Member Verified Audit Circulation
Western USA, Western Canada Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604.910.1826 • FAX: 604.264.1367 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook 604.619.1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com
International Murray Brett 58 Aldea de las Cuevas, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • + 34 96 640 4048 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net
Timber Processing (ISSN 0885-906X, USPS 395-850) is published 10 times annually (January/February and July/August issues are combined) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—TP is free to qualified owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors, foremen and other key personnel at sawmills, pallet plants, chip mills, treating plants, specialty plants, lumber finishing operations, corporate industrial woodlands officials and machinery manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. All non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions are $55 annually: $65 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. Funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE: 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.timberprocessing.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Timber Processing magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorse nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Timber Processing. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2020. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.
Postmaster: Please send address changes to Timber Processing, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, Alabama 36102-2419 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade
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THEISSUES
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Rich Donnell Editor-in-Chief
WE’RE LEARNING A LOT ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO
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special thank you goes to the nearly 200 softwood and hardwood lumbermen who completed our annual Sawmill Operations & Capital Expenditure Survey, the results of which range over 43 pages in this issue, and include 40 charts prepared by Shelley Smith of our production department. A few main points from the survey: After feeling good about where their businesses were heading at the beginning of the year, lumbermen quickly lost those good vibrations once the coronavirus hit. No surprise there. Many of them were planning or just getting into some machinery project work, and a healthy percentage of that group has chosen to move forward with that work, virus be damned, while those who have halted the action for now plan to pick it back up when the dust settles. And for the most part it seems the lumbermen are sensing a positive bounce-back at some point down the road, given that it hasn’t been an economics misfire (hello sub-prime mortgage) to initiate the downward trek this time, but rather some bizarre monster that will eventually be controlled. That is, the monster came first, then the economics. Usually with our annual survey we run the results of the softwood lumbermen in one issue and the numbers from the hardwood lumbermen in the next. But with so many questions in the survey about the impact of the virus, and given the daily developments we are experiencing ourselves and reading about with regard to the virus, we felt waiting even another month would render some of the data as dated. Heck, some of it may be anyway. As one lumberman said, it’s difficult making decisions about your operations and employees based on information that is nearly obsolete and changing almost as soon as you make those decisions. As with every business in the world, we’ve made our adjustments—a core group of employees still manning the office and the others mostly working from home. I’ve been working from home, mainly because I didn’t want to add another body in our editorial office, and because I’m able to work effectively from home. The technology in the publishing world easily allows the editor to work from one site, and the production director to work from another site, and other editors and other production personnel to work from their respective sites. One thing I quickly noticed is the improvement in our efficiencies toward meeting magazine deadlines—in fact we’ve been beating deadlines by a day or two. I think part of the reason is because those of us who are working at home never venture far from our computers and laptops, and so our production never really ceases. (For example, it’s 6:50 p.m. on a Saturday and I’m writing this column, when I should be watching a baseball game.) A leader of a large forest products company with several sawmills said to me their plants seem to be running better because there’s less distraction, and meanwhile their corporate group has adapted to WFH well. “The experience has forced all of us to learn how to better use our IT based knowledge systems to keep driving continuous improvement,” he said. (When he sent the e-mail I have to confess I didn’t know what WFH meant, until I googled it.) We all want to get back to physical social interaction, distractions or not, but businesses are noticing and have even been pleasantly surprised by how some results have been enhanced. Certainly a portion of this will find its way into the TP modus operandi post-coronavirus. Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING
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NEWSFEED SIMPSON ROSE TO THE OCCASION Lee Charles Simpson, who served as Vice-President of Operations for Louisiana-Pacific Corp. under CEO and president Harry Merlo upon the formation of LP from a spinoff from Georgia-Pacific, and who later served as Interim President and COO of LP in the mid 1990s following a reshuffling of the leadership, died March 27 at his home in Indian Wells, Calif. surrounded by family members. He was 85. Simpson, who was born in Oakland, Calif., was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy but chose to stay home to begin his career as a lumberman at Ukiah Pine sawmill in Potter Valley. He was an intelligent, dedicated and hardworking man who always put
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others first, and these qualities caught the attention of his bosses and respect from his peers. His early bosses in the lumber industry included Coleman Wheeler, Floyd Crenshaw, Archie Hesseman, Frank Crawford and George Schmidbauer. In 1973 Simpson accepted Merlo’s offer to serve as VP of Operations for LP after the FTC forced Georgia-Pacific to thin its forest products holdings. Both GP and LP were headquartered in Portland, Ore. Simpson’s early divisional managers included Sherman Kirchmeier, Lowell Ambrosini, Phil Nell, Tope Knauf, Melf Lorenzen, Tommy Reynolds and Glen Lorenz. During Simpson’s term at LP, during which he also served on the board of directors, the company blossomed from sawmills and plywood
mills into “waferas a Board Memwood,” a forerunber until 2004. His ner of oriented guidance provided strandboard. Simpemployees the son retired in 1990 confidence to stay to spend more time the course. with his family. Simpson and In October his wife, Mary 1995, Simpson reJean, enjoyed turned to LP as InAlaska fishing terim President trips, Oregon and COO, followhunting trips, Lee Simpson stands at ing major legal Hawaii vacations, problems the com- right, next to legendary Mexico cruises, pany encountered pilot Chuck Yeager and dancing, playing Harry Merlo, sitting, at with its exterior cards and enteran LP board of direcsiding product line tors meeting in 1984. taining guests at and environmental their homes in Incontrols at its OSB mills, dian Wells and Sunriver, Ore. which forced the resignations Simpson is survived by his of Merlo and two regional wife of 67 years, Mary Jean, leaders. Simpson’s objective in his son Robert Simpson, returning was to stabilize the daughter-in-law Jamie Simpcompany while LP’s board of son, numerous grandchildren, directors hired a new CEO, 10 great grandchildren and by which occurred the next year. his two brothers Richard and Simpson permanently retired in Phillip Simpson. He was pre1996 but continued to serve LP ceded in death by his parents
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NEWSFEED Charles James Simpson and Mary Pauline Wheeless, his sons Thomas and Terry and his brother Clifford. A Celebration of Life will be held at Desert Horizons Country Club in Indian Wells in the fall of 2020.
KLAUSNER FILES BANKRUPTCY Following several years of below capacity operation and much controversy, Klausner Lumber One LLC, including its southern yellow pine sawmill in Live Oak, Fla., has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. According to the petition, liabilities are expected to range from $100 million to $500 million. The Live Oak sawmill and a newer Klausner sawmill in Enfield, NC both shut down
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operations in March, prompting a class action lawsuit against Klausner in a United States District Court, accusing the company of failing to comply with the 60-day notice period and for outstanding wage and social security payments. Employees said Austria-based employees and executives were “evacuated” to Europe in mid March with no notice to U.S. employees. Once considered major investments courted by communities across the Southeast as the economy improved following the 2008-2009 Great Recession, the Klausner mills never got up to speed anywhere close to their respective 350MMBF production capacities. The Florida plant, which started out under a cloud of foundation problems and labor issues, began operating in 2015. The North Carolina
sawmill was never able to move into full operation. Despite drastically improved lumber markets from 2014 through much of 2018, the Florida mill continued to struggle and the North Carolina mill never could find its footing. Klausner had even considered building an identical third sawmill in South Carolina. The existing sawmills are apparently for sale. Klausner Lumber One, LLC, is reportedly owned by Klausner Holding USA, Inc., which is owned by KNB GmbH of Austria, which is owned by Alpha Privatstiftung of Austria.
FOREST SERVICE CAN EXTEND CONTRACTS U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is offering to extend contract deadlines on
certain timber sales, sale of property stewardship contracts and forest product permits awarded or issued before April 1, 2020. Extending these deadlines supports the long-term viability of the timber industry in markets where conditions have been significantly disrupted, especially in rural communities. This decision is based on a combination of factors that have affected the national economy and the timber market, including the global COVID-19 pandemic. Individual purchasers of the timber sales contracts may request extensions—up to two years in the lower 48 states and up to three years in Alaska—or continue to work to meet their obligations. Without the extension, firms and individuals who bought timber sales from the Forest Service may find themselves in default from late payments.
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HIT
BLINDSIDE By Rich Donnell
U.S. softwood lumbermen have picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and put their COVID-19 gameplan in place.
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aught in the web of coronavirus, the collective expectation of U.S. softwood lumbermen for their business situation the remainder of 2020 and into 2021 has taken a big hit, compared to what the lumbermen were thinking at the beginning of 2020 before the onslaught. In fact before the coronavirus, 86% forecasted their business situation as excellent (29%) or good (57%) for 20202021. But now, only 33% see it as excellent (2%) or good (31%), with much of that previous optimism slipping into the fair (40%), poor (19%), and very poor (8%) expectations. However, the survey does show some optimism on behalf of lumbermen once the virus crisis subsides. “I think, God willing, we will be in position to really excel after we get through these issues,” comments Robert Jordan IV, president/CEO, Jordan Lumber in Mt. Gilead, NC. ‘There is solid demand and I expect our regional economy to continue to grow beyond COVID-19,” adds Eric Fritch, owner, Fritch Forest Products, Snohomish, Wash. The question then becomes how long will the economic erosion persist as the impact of COVID-19 cycles through the economy, before normalcy prevails? U.S. softwood lumbermen offered 10
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these insights as part of their responses to Timber Processing’s annual Sawmill Operations & Capital Expenditure Survey. Onehundred twenty-six (126) lumber company personnel—mostly owners, presidents, VPs and general managers, and some corporate executives, regional managers, plant managers and other supervisory personnel—completed the online survey during the latter half of April. They represented approximately 260 sawmills, the majority of which (53%) produce mostly 2 in. lumber, with 18% producing mostly 1 in. lumber and 15% focusing on timbers. What the survey results reveal is what everybody knows—that COVID-19 totally blindsided everybody, just when the softwood lumber industry and housing markets had tasted some momentum. And that to refer to the current situation as fluid is one of the great understatements in history. “We didn’t see anything looming on the horizon that had us overly concerned,” says Tom Shaffer, COO/GM at Neiman Enterprises, headquartered in Hulett, Wyoming. Neiman had just finished its new planer mill in Montrose, Colo., and completed a gang edger upgrade at Montrose and an auto grader installation in Hulett. “2019 was a difficult year in our industry. Early in quarter one this year things started looking good, but when the virus hit, we quickly returned to ’19 type numbers,” comments Richie LeBlanc, president, Hunt Forest Products/LaSalle Lumber, which started up a new SYP sawmill in LaSalle, La. Indeed the virus has hit, and while expectations and projections are interesting, sawmill operators must deal with the here and now. One of the survey quesTIMBER PROCESSING
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tions listed 10 items for lumbermen to choose any or all as to the impact of the virus crisis on their business and actions they’ve taken. “Have enhanced employee safety measures,” received the largest response at 68%, though that figure is probably higher by now as the first mailing of the survey went out when the virus was very fresh. “We have made significant changes to avoid having log truck drivers and lum-
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ber haulers entering the office,” comments Ross Jackson, general manager, Spanish Trail Lumber in Marianna, Fla. “We have implanted social distancing for employees in the break room areas by providing additional outside tables and have more hand washing stations.” “We have communicated continuously with our employees and families to ease anxiety surrounding the virus,” says LeBlanc of Hunt Forest Products. “It has
been somewhat difficult to make decisions using data that becomes obsolete in a few hours. Our folks have responded admirably during the crisis.” “One of our biggest challenges has been maintaining our employees morale and sense of well being while dealing with potentially ill employees.” comments Wes Grant, president, Cross City Lumber in Cross City, Fla. “Production efficiencies have been markedly impact-
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ed while trained operators have been out due to testing and quarantining of themselves and family members.” Next highest on the list of items selected was “seeing significant lumber price decline” at 57%. That was followed by “applied for government payment protection loan” with 37%, and “changed hours of sawmill operation” at 34%. A good portion of the respondents, 18%, said they had laid off employees. It may be difficult to get some of those employees back. An anonymous lumberman stated, “It’s impossible to hire employees when they are getting more income on unemployment than they would be working. The extra $600 in federal unemployment on top of the state unemployment is counterproductive.” Several comments pointed to the extra $600 per week in federal aid to unemployed workers (part of the CARES Act) as a challenge to deal with. The aid was scheduled to end in July but there’s been legislative talk of extending it. An indicator of just how “fluid” and spontaneous the situation is, is this comment from an anonymous respondent: “So far we have been operating close to normal. We have reduced some hours, mostly overtime hours that we had been running. Markets are starting to look more uncertain as I write this so we are not sure what the next few weeks will bring.” “We are making decisions on a day by day basis,” says Charles Thomas III, VP, Shuqualak Lumber, Shuqualak, Miss. “Information is changing so quickly
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we don’t make any drastic changes,” comments Robert Thomas, CFO of Starfire Lumber, Cottage Grove, Ore.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE A survey question asked how much new capital expenditure in machinery and systems the companies had allocated or committed to per mill for 2020 and 2021—before the coronavirus hit. The results: one company said more than $100 million, and one company each said $30-50 million, $20-30 million and $15-20 million; 4% of respondents said $10-15 million; 7% said $5-10 million; 9% said $3-5 million; 6% said $2-3 million; 13% said $1-2 million; another 13% said $500,000-$1 million; 23% said $200,000-$500,000. The survey listed 46 items or areas of emphasis that mills planned to spend their money on. More than a quarter of the lumbermen picked maintenance (28%) while 21% selected wheel loaders, followed by lumber handling forklifts at 18%, log yard handling, downstream sawing (gang/edger/trimmer), dry kilns and/or controls, chippers/hammermills/screens, and conveyors—all picked by 17% of the lumbermen. Other items that were selected by at least 10% of the lumbermen included debarkers, filing room equipment, log scanning/optimization, automated lumber grading, downstream scanning/optimization, data collection systems, planer mill strapping/packaging, log merchandising cutup and scanning, dust control, fire prevention, log canter breakdown, log loaders, boilers, and green end sorting/stacking But will these planned expenditures for 2020 and 2021 go forward? A survey question asked to what degree the coronavirus had impacted those plans. The good news is that many sawmills are going ahead in some measure. In fact 38% of the lumbermen said the virus hasn’t affected those plans and they’re moving forward, while 20% said the situation 16
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has caused them to reduce their expenditure plans by up to 25%; 11% are cutting back 25-50%; 9% at 50-75% reduction; 5% at more than 75% stalled but still spending some; and 17% said the pandemic has caused them to totally wipe out capital expenditure plans for now. Another question asked if in addition to their future capital expenditure plans, whether they had projects currently in the works (as in equipment being installed or getting close to that point) when the virus crisis hit? Close to 60% said they did. Despite the virus, 38% said they are not canceling or delaying projects that are in the works, while 38% said they’re canceling or delaying some but not all, and 13% said the crisis has caused them to cancel or delay all projects in the works. Asked whether they’ll resume these projects once the crisis passes and there’s a return to normal operations, a vast majority said they expect to proceed.
PRODUCTION The annual production of the mills responding to the survey runs the gamut, with 10% of the mills producing more than 200MMBF in 2019, 25% producing 100-200MMBF, 20% at 50-100MMBF, 16% 25-50MMBF, 11% 10-25MMBF and 18% under 10MMBF. Their anticipated annual production for 2020, before the virus, ran in the same ballpark as 2019. But as to how the coronavirus crisis will affect their anticipated production in 2020, 26% said it is too early tell, 4% said they might even have an increase, 12% said no reduction, 24% less than 10% reduction, 19% said 10-25% downward, 13% said 25-50% off and 2% said more than 50% reduced. Asked how the virus could impact 2021 production, half of the respondents said it was too early to tell, while 11% said they may see an increase, 21% said no reduction, and 10% said under 10% off. In 2019, 45% of the mills produced at 90-100% capacity, but for 2020 not surprisingly that number drops to 32%. At 80-90% capacity in 2019 it was 27%, for 2020, 29%; at 70-80% in 2019, 15%, for 2020, 21%; 13% said they ran at 70% or less capacity in 2019, and for 2020 that’s what 18% of the mills anticipate. “Have gone back to sawing four days a week instead of five to slow 20
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down production a bit,” a lumberman commented, adding they’re “practicing safe distancing, more cleaning, workers now wearing masks.” Consequently, 36% of the lumbermen expect more downtime in 2020 compared to 2019, though 23% said there could be less downtime than last year, while 41% said it will be about the same. Meanwhile, during what probably seems like ancient history now, nearly three-quarters of the lumbermen said they had completed capital expenditure projects in 2019. (See the 2019 graph for the specific equipment and technology they installed.) A related question asked if their company had built and started up a new sawmill during 2017-2020? An impressive 11% said yes. “We refurbished and restarted a previ-
ously closed mill and retooled it with many new pieces of machinery,” comments Grant of Cross City Lumber in Florida. A followup question asked if they are considering building a sawmill after 2020, and 14% said yes. One lumberman commented: “That’s always under consideration, in spite of the levels of bureaucracy we’d have to satisfy now to ever attempt such a thing. That would likely take longer than building the mill!”
OBSERVATIONS The survey closed with two openended questions. One asked the lumbermen to comment on their current business situation and the industry in general. “With the large amount of curtailment 22
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and shut down announcements I forsee lumber prices rising until more of the production is back.”—anonymous lumberman “Hopefully, we will see demand catch up with supply. But that will depend on how smart we are as we move through this uncertain time. Curtailments will have to be made and made for an extended time. If not, the market will be flooded and it will take longer for the lumber industry to recover than it will for the general public.”—Thomas of Shuqualak Lumber “Essential business is going well so far despite demand being down. We are blessed to be working. As long as we can keep our employees healthy and coming to work, we should be okay.”—Jeff Rogers, Executive VP, Rogers Lumber, Orange, Texas “Our small size among huge West Coast mills allows us to be flexible and rapidly adjust to this current business climate.”—anonymous lumberman “We have been running close to ‘normal’ but we are beginning to see some cracks in some of our markets. We have been blessed to be able to keep our employees working full time and to be essentially COVID-free at all of our plants.
We can only hope and pray that we can continue on—obviously we can’t control markets but we remain cautiously optimistic while at the same time have some expectation for some tough times ahead.”—Shaffer of Neiman Enterprises “If job site construction holds then we will be okay. It has so far and we are still quoting new business and have not received any negative comments from our customers even after we solicited them.” —Jackson of Spanish Trail Lumber
“We need the economy to reopen and get people back to work. Our teams have operated without interruption since the inception of the COVID-19 concerns.”— LeBlanc of Hunt Forest Products “As a mill dependent on export markets, an international pandemic has definite affects. The ability of the Caribbean market to handle this virus has us concerned.”—anonymous lumberman “We believe that there will be a slowing of lumber purchases over the next
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three to four quarters as the general economy lags and recovers. We will assess the market weekly and react accordingly.” —Grant of Cross City Lumber “We hope to maintain our strong relationship with lumber purchasers. Expect lumber sales to drop off considerably be24
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fore making a slow recovery.”—Randy Eller, wood products manager, Empire Lumber, Kamish, ID. The last question invited lumbermen to comment on once the coronavirus crisis is over how they view business and markets:
“I don’t think you can really put a pencil to what the entire effect COVID is going to have on our economy. I think it is safe to say that it will be bad—how bad is the real question.”—Shaffer of Neiman Enterprises “We see a surge in lumber/deck- ➤ 28
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24 ➤ ing after the COVID-19 crisis is over.”—Tim Semons, general manager, Redwood Empire, Woodland, Calif. “Once the virus ends and people start moving around, I would like to believe building products will firm up and have a decent Q3 and Q4.”—LeBlanc of Hunt Forest Products “Demand for our product has been way down since this started. It depends on how long the quarantine lasts on and if we will have time to bounce back before the election gets too close. Business 28
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always seems to slow to a crawl a couple of months before a presidential election. Then it will all depend on how the election turns out, whether we will bounce right back, or have to survive the crawling for four years.”—Rogers of Rogers Lumber “Demand is still there. How quickly people get back to work and production resumes will tell a lot.”—Thomas of Starfire Lumber “It will take a while for the economy to return and lumber demand to return.
We need to survive the downturn and should be good when the market returns.”—Phil Latos, technical and projects director, Weyerhaeuser Co. “I expect a two to three month surge in demand on the market and prices to climb quickly but then level off close to normal in last four months of 2020.”— Michael Millwood, superintendent, PotlatchDeltic, Ola, Ark. “I think things will pick up as global lumber inventory has decreased.”—Boyd Plumb, shipping manager, Cameron
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Lumber, Cameron, SC “Hopefully long-term impact will be minimal, but expect impacts and recovery through the remainder of the year.”—Tim Papa, area manager, Canfor Southern Pine, Myrtle Beach, SC “We feel construction activity will lead our economy out of the recession/ depression CV-19 created, unless the crisis should prevail for several months.”— anonymous lumberman That last comment properly emphasizes just how essential the sawmill industry is during this peculiar period. TP TIMBER PROCESSING
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THE
BIG HURT By Rich Donnell
U.S. hardwood lumbermen, who were just getting over trade war wounds, are climbing the hardest hill yet.
H
ardwood lumbermen in the U.S. have been scrambling to keep their businesses treading water since the onslaught of the coronavirus crisis.
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“I believe the virus will slow the economy down until a cure is found. As to the lumber market, China is not our friend. We need to bring back at least sixty percent of our manufacturing of furniture to this country, if not more.” One of the questions in Timber Processing’s annual Sawmill Operations & Capital Expenditure Survey listed 10 items for hardwood lumbermen to choose any or all as to the impact of the virus on their businesses and actions they’ve taken. “Have enhanced employee safety measures,” said 61% of the lumbermen, though that figure is probably higher by now as the first mailing of the survey went out when the virus had just surfaced. It was followed closely by “applied for government payment protection loan” with 58% and “seeing significant lumber price decline” with 57%, although one lumberman comments, “decline in demand is more of a problem than decline in pricing at this point.” Next highest was “changed hours of sawmill operation” with 22%, while close to 20% of the lumbermen have reduced shifts at their mill, and 16% have laid off employees.”
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“At this point things are week to week, they change that fast,” comments Jeffrey Delegan, president, North Country Lumber, Mellen, Wis. Mills may have some difficulty getting back those laid off workers. “Unemploy40
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ment made too attractive to generally low income employees,” comments Chuck Baxter, owner, Ottawa Forest Products, Ironwood, Mich. Seventy (70) lumber company personnel—more than half of them owners,
along with presidents, VPs, general managers, plant managers, some corporate executives, regional managers, and other supervisory personnel—completed the on-line survey during the latter half of April. They represented approximately
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120 mills, the majority of which (54%) produce mostly 1 in. lumber, with 12% producing mostly furniture grader lumber, while 7% are heaviest to timbers and 7% making pallets. The U.S. hardwood lumber sector wasn’t necessarily going like gangbusters before the virus, but the trade war with China had settled somewhat and tariffs on lumber had eased. Consequently 68% of the hardwood lumbermen forecasted their business situation as good (61%) or excellent (7%) and 30% said fair for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021. Only 2% said it would be poor. But those numbers have nosedived since the virus has come on. Now only 18% are forecasting good (15%) or excellent (3%), with 37% saying fair, and a staggering 33% anticipating poor. “As difficult as some of our market conditions are now already, I’m assuming we are only at the tip of the iceberg. We are seeing some difficulty in moving crossties as well as hardwood chips,” comments Anthony Wagler, plant manager, Wagler and Sons Sawmill, Cottage Grove, Tenn. Another lumberman comments, “The 25% tariff from China on hardwood was removed, so we were slightly optimistic, till the coronavirus.” Another one says that numerous secondary manufacturers had to shut down because of the virus.
CAPITAL PROJECTS Before the virus hit, hardwood lumbermen had some capital expenditure plans. Fourteen (14) percent were going to spend at least $1 million this year and into next year; 6% were looking at $500,000 to $1 million, 11% at $300,000-$500,000, 16% in the
“Our markets have slowed or quit receiving altogether for extended periods of time. This in turn means we have to adjust accordingly, meaning lost production which I don’t think we will be able to get back in the near future.” TIMBER PROCESSING
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$100,000-$300,000 range, and 17% from $50,000-$100,000. The survey listed 46 items or areas of emphasis that mills planned to spend their money on. Thirty (30) percent of the lumbermen planned to purchase wheel loaders, 22% were investing in maintenance, 20% selected debarkers and 20% were looking at trucking, followed by chippers/hammermills/screens with 19%, log yard handling at 17%, lumber forklifts with 16%. 44
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“I believe the hardwood lumber market will come back but it may be a slow process considering what it’s going to take to get the country on stable financial ground again.” Other items that were each selected by at least 10% of the lumbermen included conveyors, dust control, log carriages, green end sorting/stacking, dry kilns and/or controls. How has the onslaught of the coronavirus impacted those plans? Thirty-nine (39) percent said it hasn’t affected their plans and they’re moving forward, though 26% said it has totally wiped out their capital expenditure plans for now;
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another 17% said they’re reducing capital expenditure up to 25%, while 18% are cutting back from 25-75%. “Not sure, we were just getting past some expenditures and looking for a good ride,” says Dwight Nolt, partner, Chestnut Ridge Mulch, Blairsville, Pa. Almost half of the lumbermen had projects in the works (as in equipment being installed or close to that point) when the virus came on. Of that group,
35% have not canceled those projects, while 29% have canceled them and 26% have delayed some of it. The overwhelming majority of lumbermen plan to resume any of those projects they’ve put on hold once the virus subsides.
PRODUCTION Annual production in 2019 for these lumbermen reveals a broad range with 13% above 25MMBF, 14% at 1525MMBF, 9% at 10-15MMBF, 27% at 5-10MMBF and 37% less than 5MMBF. Their anticipated annual production for 2020, before the virus, ran in the same ballpark as 2019. But as to how the coronavirus crisis will affect their anticipated production in 2020, 39% said their production will drop 1025% and 13% said 25-50%, while 6% said production will fall back more than 50%. However, 16% said production won’t see a decrease and 16% said less than 10%. Another 9% said it is too early to tell. “Estimate is conservative. No one has ever dealt with this before,” says Stephen Lumbra, vice president, Lumbra Hardwoods, Milo, Maine. Asked to look even further out into 2021, 41% said it was too early to tell, while 21% they don’t expect a reduction and 7% said they may even see an increase in output, while 29% expect varying degrees of reduction. While 36% of their mills operated at 90-100% of capacity in 2019, only 24% expect to reach that range in 2020. A quarter of the lumbermen hit 80-90% capacity in 2019 and expect to be there again in 2020, but in 2019 while 19% operated at 60-80%, 31% will slip into that range for 2020. Not surprisingly, 44% expect more downtime in 2020
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compared to 2019. About 60% of the lumbermen had completed capital expenditure projects in 2019, though one lumberman comments,
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“Business was too poor, the (China) tariff war has us struggling to survive.” (See the 2019 graph for the specific equipment and technology they installed.)
On the other hand, recent tariff liftings by China had generated some optimism. “We were excited to ring in the new year. The trade war was starting to wind
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“It will be very difficult to restart a paused economy. We all need to be patient and make smart moves as we endeavor to recover.”
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propped up economy that will follow with a potentially very serious recession,” comments Ray White, CEO, Harold White Lumber, Morehead, Ky. “I believe the hardwood lumber market will come back but it may be a slow process considering what it’s going to take to get the country on stable financial ground again,” says Melvin Lewis, Dwight Lewis Lumber, Hillsgrove, Pa. “I believe the virus will slow the economy down until a cure is found. As to the lumber market, China is not our friend. We need to bring back at least
sixty percent of our manufacturing of furniture to this country, if not more,” says Chuck Lloyd, owner, Braxton Lumber, Heaters, W. Va. “We are optimistic that markets will improve rapidly,” says Pat McGinn, owner, Central Alabama Wood Products, Alexander City, Ala. “Even for a 79-year-old family business we see a lot of dark clouds and a uncertain future for the hardwood industry. Hope I’m wrong,” laments Jack Haessly, president, Haessly Hardwood, Marietta, Ohio. TP
down and we felt like 2020 would be a big improvement from 2018/2019,” says Scott Greene, owner, High Country Lumber and Mulch, Wilkesboro, NC. “Then here came COVID-19. It is as bad as I have it seen but I am very optimistic about the coming years.” He was responding to one of two openended questions at the end of survey. The first one asked lumbermen to comment on their current situation and concerns. “Barely hanging on. The government stimulus plans are a joke. By the time funding actually hits the bank, it will be too late for most small businesses. We did not apply for any assistance,” comments Chad Gray, owner, Gray and Sons Sawmill & Supply, Durant, Okla. “Our markets have slowed or quit receiving altogether for extended periods of time. This in turn means we have to adjust accordingly, meaning lost production which I don’t think we will be able to get back in the near future,” says Randall Miller, VP, Miller’s Pallet & Lumber, Creston, W. Va. “Market is spotty. A fair amount of material is moving but not sure when things will get filled up,” adds Lumbra of Lumbra Hardwoods. The final question of the survey asked the lumbermen to provide some thoughts on once the virus has passed. They provided some very insightful and heartfelt responses. “It will be very difficult to restart a paused economy. We all need to be patient and make smart moves as we endeavor to recover,” says Wagler of Wagler and Sons Sawmill. “I believe that once the virus passes, there will be a period of prosperity and healthy economy, but this will be a TIMBER PROCESSING
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MACHINERYROW
Gilbert, Great South Complete Remote Startup
Jerry Smith, head planerman
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped Gilbert from working on three planer startups in Florida and Georgia. This spring, only days before the coronavirus virtually shut down the world, Gilbert delivered an S Series model planer to Great South Timber and Lumber in Lake City, Fla. No one could have predicted what was to follow! Gilbert, which was to send technicians in late March for the scheduled startup, was forced to quickly alter its plans when, on March 18, borders between Canada and the U.S. were closed.
Not willing to accept that the project could potentially be delayed for a long time due to travel restrictions, the Great South team collaborated with Gilbert project managers to develop an alternative strategy. On April 3, the mill shut down. Great South, including its mechanical and electrical contractors, were left with merely a week to remove the existing planer, build a new substructure and install the Gilbert S Series planer. A rapid solution for installing the planer from afar, without causing any production delay, was crucially needed. Gilbert’s service team was up to the task. By working together around the clock, the team developed high-tech remote systems which would allow them to virtually participate in the Florida installation and startup. Amazingly on April 11, the mill was up and running lumber through its new Gilbert planer. Great South’s outstanding work force dealt with this dramatic change in events with incredible expertise. They installed cameras at the infeed of the
Gilbert Service tech Eric Theberge working remotely from home office
equipment, which gave Gilbert technicians a live view from Gilbert’s Roberval office in Quebec. The planer staff also downloaded software onto their phones allowing for close-up views of the equipment. Mill Manager Mike Dennard comments, “Even though the planning was more complex, the result was a good plan, well executed by everyone involved, resulting in a very successful project.” Gilbert’s Southern Service Rep, Jimmy Porter, was also key to the success of this enterprise. Based in Niceville, Fla., he is permitted to travel and participate in all of Gilbert’s startups in the South. Porter is in contact with the Gilbert team in Roberval 24/7—a service for which Gilbert and its Southern customers are immensely grateful. Although all parties are looking forward to borders being reopened, one thing Gilbert can say is that this situation has propelled significant technological progress which Gilbert and Grreat South can be quite proud of.
Microtec Purchases Lucidyne Technologies In a move that creates one of the largest wood products scanning companies in the world, Microtec has acquired Lucidyne Technologies, Inc. Microtec has been delivering technologically advanced scanning and optimization systems for 40 years, and is a premier scanning company across Europe. Lucidyne has been an industry leader in scanning and optimization throughout North America since 1985. This acquisition expands both companies’ product lines, geographical reach and, perhaps most importantly, brings the two highly advanced technologies and technology teams together. The opportunities provided by this acquisition to the wood products indus54
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MACHINERYROW try are significant. Lucidyne’s products will now be enhanced by the availability of the entire Microtec product line. Together there will be a mill-wide integrated scanning opportunity. Microtec and Lucidyne will be introducing co-developed products that bring the best of the companies’ technologies together, including Lucidyne’s patented Perceptive Sight Intelligent Grading platform. Microtec’s headquarters will remain in Bressanone, Italy, while Lucidyne’s operations will remain in Corvallis, Ore. There are no anticipated changes to staffing, support, plant operations or customer interaction, according to the companies. Customer support will remain an important top priority. “Microtec and Lucidyne are eager to work together as the world’s largest wood products scanning company, delivering unparalleled results to our industry worldwide,” the companies state.
“Certain countries and cities are struggling to get enough ventilators and many governments and health authorities are encouraging manufacturers to come up with a solution, as did the HSE in Ireland. Instead of actually developing ventilators we analyzed what is really required, as we do in our usual business models.” The Combi-Ventilate uses standard pipes and fittings for easy assembly and its individual patient filters prevent cross contamination. Each patient has a dedicated screen that allows medical professionals to individually monitor their vital information. This includes live values, data on patient history and statistics
Combilift Steps Up With Combi-Ventilate Irish manufacturer Combilift, best known for its range of space-saving forklifts and other handling solutions, has drawn on its expertise in engineering and software design to develop At the launch of the Combilift-Ventilate, left the Combi-Ventito right, Antonio Patacho, Combilift engineer; late, a splitter deMartin McVicar, Co-Founder & CEO, Comvice which turns bilift; Dr. Michael Power, National Clinical one ventilator into Lead, Critical Care Programme, Irish Health multiple ventilation Service; and Christopher Carragher, Comstations. bilift engineer Designed to address the requirements of medical professionals in the current COVID-19 emergency, the Combi-Ventilate was developed by a team of mechatronic and software engineers in the past five weeks with a unit currently undergoing laboratory tests with Ger Curley, Professor of Anaesthesia & Critical Care at Royal College of Surgeon’s in Beaumont Hospital. Martin McVicar, CEO and co-founder Combilift, comments,
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MACHINERYROW and adjustable alarm settings. Features include non-return valves, HEPA filters, flow sensors and an automatic flow control valve. Any abnormalities that occur are detected and will only trigger that specific patient’s alarm. The Combi-Ventilate has automatically adjustable flow control valves that allow the health service professional to control the tidal volume to each patient electronically without having to make
manual adjustments. McVicar adds, “We have undertaken this non-profit endeavor in order to meet and facilitate the demands of the global crisis for health services around the world, namely the lack or shortage of ventilators. The medical device sector is not our core business but making critical equipment which keeps people safe and alive has always been our focus and this latest project, driven by our desire to help during
these difficult times, mirrors what our research and development has done for the last 20 years.” Dr Michael Power, National Clinical Lead, Critical Care Programme Irish Health Service, comments, “The CombiVentilate is a safe and reliable attachment for ventilators for use in an ICU setting in that unwanted scenario where you have one ventilator for multiple patients. It removes that horrible dilemma. The CombiVentilate is safe and reliable. It is an engineered solution which delivers the correct volume of air to each patient and actually delivers the required amounts of air to each patient safely and reliably.”
Wilkins Mills Update With Deep Learning The Wilkins family owns two mills: WKO at Carson, Wash. and Mt. Hood at Hood River, Ore. Both mills installed USNR’s Lineal High Grader (LHG) a few years ago, and are now updating these systems with the latest technology that provides the benefits of Deep Learning technology for improved lumber grade classification and recovery. The latest platform that USNR provides for all of its grade scanning systems—both green mill and dry mill—includes Deep Learning technology along with other advancements. New vision sensors, computer hardware, and the latest software load will be installed. Deep Learning technology will provide enhanced detection of knots, pith, bark and other defects. l USNR also announced that Paul M Jones Lumber of Snow Hill, Md. is expanding its kiln capacity with a new double-track dry kiln. The mill produces lumber and heavy timbers, much of which supplies treaters for marine applications. The sawmill will more than double its capacity with a 54 ft. long steam-heated, high temperature batch kiln, and Kiln Boss controls. The existing kiln at this site is a Coe-brand kiln, still performing well after decades of production. The Kiln Boss system will control both kilns, and the mill is also installing SCS inkiln moisture measurement in both kilns. The new kiln is scheduled to be started up in Q4.
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MACHINERYROW
Ceres Tackles Michael’s Forest Debris Field
“Total devastation” are the words many community leaders used to describe the aftermath of Hurricane Michael back in October 2018. Michael will be best remembered for the sheer volume of vegetation destruction it caused up and down the coastal communities of Florida and Georgia.
Handling a good chunk of the initial and long-term recovery efforts was Ceres Environmental Services Inc., based in Sarasota, Fla. Their crews were responsible for clearing the roadways so emergency vehicles and others aiding with the cleanup efforts could access the area, as well as hauling away green waste. The collected organic material was hauled to a 120 acre lot in Jackson County, Fla., where it was stacked high for fur-
Grinding through Hurricane Michael
ther processing. Ceres brought in nine grinders to reduce the waste volume by roughly 75%. The equipment crews used to tackle the mountains of material included two Vermeer HG6000 horizontal grinders, four Vermeer HG6800TX horizontal grinders on tracks, two Vermeer HG8000 horizontal grinders and one Vermeer TG7000 tub grinder. The Ceres team selected these units because of their mobility and production levels. With the four tracked HG6800TX grinders, in particular, crews could quickly move them from one pile to the next, which helped reduce cycle times and save on fuel costs. While eight units onsite were horizontal grinders, the lone Vermeer TG7000 tub grinder played a vital role in the process. High-speed winds knocked trees over at their roots, leaving huge root balls to contend with. The TG7000 has a 10 ft. wide tub that makes quick work of those larger and odd-sized pieces of material. Ceres grinding crews went through all the organic waste in a little over a month. The material produced onsite is now being reused as biofuel, landscaping material and organic matter for farm fields.
Con-Vey Names May As Product Manager Con-Vey announced the promotion of Camren May from sales engineer to Product Manager for Bulk Handling. The new designation is essential to supporting increased initiatives and continued growth for Con-Vey’s bulk handling product segments. May started working at Con-Vey in 2015 as an engineer intern and later returned in 2019 as a mechanical engineer after graduating from Oregon State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. In his short time at Con-Vey, May has already been involved in several major projects in building product areas. 58
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WOOD PRODUCTS MARKETPLACE NORTH AMERICA
■ Minnesota
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■ Canada ■ Ontario Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods • Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •
Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties • Hickory, Sycamore, Beech, Gum & Elm • Custom Cut Timbers: Long lengths and wide widths
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■ Georgia Beasley Forest Products, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539
beasleyforestproducts.com Manufactures Kiln-Dried 4/4 Red and White Oak, Poplar, Ash and Cypress Contact: Linwood Truitt Phone (912) 253-9000 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 linwood.truitt@beasleyforestproducts.com
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WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com 02/20
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Richard Waring, professor emeritus in the Oregon State University College of Forestry in Corvallis, is one of three researchers sharing this year’s international Marcus Wallenberg Prize for developing a revolutionary computer model to predict forest growth in a changing climate. The annual prize, one of the highest honors in the field of forestry, was announced in Falun, Sweden, and is named for the late Marcus Wallenberg Jr., a banker, industrialist and member of Sweden’s long-influential Wallenberg family. Waring and co-honorees Joe Landsberg and Nicholas Coops, both of Australia, will each receive 2 million kronor, about $200,000, when they are presented with the prize in October by Swedish King Carl Gustav XVI. “Dick Waring’s impact on forest science is clear,” says Anthony Davis, interim dean of the OSU College of Forestry. “He and his colleagues are well-deserved recipients of this incredi-
Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040
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OSU’s Waring Shares Marcus Wallenberg Prize
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ATLARGE ble honor. Perhaps the only thing to eclipse his scientific contribution has been his commitment to the students, researchers and colleagues who have worked with him throughout his career.” Waring joined the OSU College of Forestry faculty in 1963 and remained active in forest science teaching and research until 2018. The model created by Waring and his colleagues includes use of satellite imagery to show how different environmental conditions affect the world’s forests. Established in 1980, the Marcus Wallenberg Prize goes to an individual researcher or a small group of researchers for “a groundbreaking discovery or development in an area of importance to the forest industry,” according to the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation. Waring and Landsberg are pioneers in forest growth modeling under changing environmental conditions. They first presented their 3PG model—Physiological Principles Predicting Growth—in 1997. In 1998, Coops added satellite imagery to the model, enabling large areas of forest to be
surveyed and forest growth and carbon storage to be predicted on a greater scale. Waring, Landsberg and Coops have allowed researchers and landowners open access to the model, leading to its rapid and widespread adoption, use and improvement. “That’s exactly how science is supposed to work,” Waring says, noting the model can be applied to a range of tree species around the world, in mixedspecies stands, and in monocultures.
SPI Sells Power To Puget Sound Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has teamed up with Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) to purchase 17 (MW) of renewable energy from SPI’s cogeneration plant at its Burlington sawmill in Mount Vernon, Wash. SPI’s cogeneration facility uses wood byproducts from its lumber manufacturing process to generate steam that is then used to make electricity. PSE signed a 17-year contract with SPI that starts in 2021. TIMBER PROCESSING
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MAINEVENTS JULY
APRIL 2021
16-18—West Virginia Foestry. Assn. annual meeting, Canaan Resort Conf. Center, Davis, WV. Visit wvfa.org.
15—OptiSaw West, Four Points Sheraton Kelowna Airport, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Visit optisaw.com.
19-22—2020 Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. Annual Conference, The Cloister, Sea Island, Ga. Call 770-6316701; visit slma.org.
16-18—Forst Live, Exhibition Center, Offenburg, Germany. Visit forst-live.de. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.
24-26—Georgia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Jekyll Island Convention Center, Jekyll Island, Ga. Call 912-635-6400; visit gfagrow.org. 25-28—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org.
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This issue of Timber Processing is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products. ADVERTISER
PG.NO.
PH.NO.
Andritz Iggesund Tools
2
813.855.6902
Autolog
25
450.434.8389
AUGUST
BID Group
19
843.563.7070
Brunner Hildebrand
26
615.469.0745
11-14—Virginia Forestry Summit, Hotel Madison, Harrisonburg, Va. Call 804-278-8733; visit vaforestry.org.
Calibre Equipment
45
+64 21 586 453
Carbotech International
17
800.387.6317
Cleereman Industries
56
715.674.2700
Cone Omega
57
229.228.9213
Donaldson Industrial Air Filtration
44
800.365.1331
Ernst Reiner GmbH
27
+49 7723 657 0
Fulghum Industries
54
800.841.5980
G F Smith
6
971.865.2981
Holtec USA
64
800.346.5832
Hurdle Machine Works
8
901.877.6251
JoeScan
20
360.993.0069
Johnson & Pace
57
903.753.0663
Liebherr-International
31
+41 26 913 3111
Linck
47
936.676.4958
55,59
250.561.1181
25-27—Florida Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, Amelia Island, Fla. Call 850-2225646; visit floridaforest.org. 25-27—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Brown Hotel, Louisville, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org. 25-28—IWF 2020, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.
SEPTEMBER
Linden Fabricating Lonza Wood Protection
9
678.627.2000
16-18—American Forest Resource Council annual meeting, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash. Call 503-222-9505; visit amforest.org.
Lucidyne Technologies
7
541.753.5111
McDonough Manufacturing
53
715.834.7755
Mebor
49
+386 4 510 3200
Metal Detectors
23
541.345.7454
OCTOBER
Mid-South Engineering
59
501.321.2276
Muhlbock Holztrocknungsanlagen
50
+43 7753 2296 0
9-10—Expo Richmond 2020, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.
Nelson Bros Engineering
36
888.623.2882
Oleson Saw Technology
29
800.256.8259
Opticom Tech
48
800.578.1853
16-17—Loggers’ Expo, Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vt. Call 315-369-3078; visit northernlogger.com.
Pipers Saw Shop
57
800.845.6075
Pole Mill Optimizer
59
228.669.7786
Precision-Husky
51
205.640.5181
55
866.762.9327
Rawlings Manufacturing
NOVEMBER
Samuel Packaging Systems Group
3—OptiSaw East, Hôtel le Concorde et Groupe Restos Plasirs, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Visit optisaw.com. 6-7—Southeastern Dry Kiln Club annual meeting held jointly with OVLDA, Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Kimball, Tenn. Call 919-515-5581; visit research.cnr.ncsu.edu/blogs/wpe/. 10-13—Xylexpo 2020, Fieramilano Rho Fairgrounds, Milan, Italy. Phone +39-02-89210200; Visit xylexpo.com/index.php/en.
Visit us online at timberprocessing.com
35,58
800.323.4424
Select Sawmill
20
613.673.1267
Sennebogen
63
704.347.4910
Sering Sawmill Machinery
46
360.687.2667
Sharp Tool
36
800.221.5452
Signode
41
800.323.2464
SII Dry Kilns
33
800.545.6379
Smith Sawmill Services
21
800.598.6344
Springer Maschinenfabrik GmbH
37
+43 4268 2581 0
Strategic Solutions
27
503.924.4434
Telco Sensors
15
800.253.0111
Timber Automation
13
501.623.0065
U S Metal Works
59
800.523.5287
USNR
3
800.289.8767
Vecoplan
16
336.861.6070
ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.
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