SWHMC Attendees Weather Storms, Low Supply And Business Upticks
by Bubba Lammons
Several people attended the Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers Club’s 2025 Annual Crawfish Boil at the Grand Hotel in Natchez, MS, for the first time and commented that they enjoyed it and wouldn’t miss another meeting. The meeting was sponsored by Corley Manufacturing Co., USNR, Stella-Jones, Ward Timber and Taylor Machine Works Inc. Overall, at the time of this writing, many had witnessed a small uptick in business and price; however, logs were in short supply due to the stormy weather over the past few weeks. Attendees were also cautiously optimistic about the future even though the tariff situation causes much uncertainty about the strength of the marketplace going forward.
Bubba Lammons, Kevin Lammons and Bill Price were in attendance for All Star Forest Products, which is headquartered in Jackson, MS. Bubba commented that they are building “12-foot crane mats in 20 to 40-foot lengths. Our logs are too big to produce many 8-foot mats. Cypress has been good up until the past few months.”
Kevin kept his commentary short and simple, stating, “12-foot crane mats up to 40-feet have been good.”
Price explained the state of business for the company. “Our business is fair to middling. I preach diversification, so I bought a millwork/casework/cabinets shop. Our pine business is fair. Cut to size plywood is steady. We ship four to six loads a week of CTS plywood into the Tupelo, MS, and Okolona, MS, area, where we used to ship 20 loads a week of frame stock. Now, we don’t sell any frame stock up there at all.”
J.R. Johns with Mitco Sales is one attendee that has a positive outlook, stating, “There was a short-lived slow-up due to 14 to 15 inches of rain and tornadoes in West Tennessee, North Mississippi, and East Arkansas. Since there are so many tie mills in my area, side lumber is overly plentiful. I think things will turn around and get better.”
Many representatives from Willow Springs, MO-based, Somerville Tie Company, including Tony Jarrell, Ronald Hollan and Howard Ray, provided informative reports on the activity of their mills and product movement in addition to log, pallet and pulp prices. Jarrell added that they had a few mills “cut back so the treating plants can process the production on their yards. We have a good order on switch ties, but log prices are still too high.” Hollan also had details to share about the mills, stating, “most of my mills are low or out of logs because it is so wet. Pallet lumber prices are low. One pulp mill has shut down in my area and three or four other pulp mills in our area have dropped their prices. Moving pulp wood is difficult.” Ray added onto Hollan’s statement about how wet it was at the time of this writing, noting, “It is very wet in East Texas. Our volume of ties is a lot lower right now. Pallet lumber is moving but it is a lot cheaper than it was. Crane Mats are picking up pretty good and that is counter acting the lower prices of side lumber.”
Tommy Maxwell, with Maxwell Hardwood Flooring Inc. in Monticello, AR, explained the shifts in the marketplace that he has been seeing over the past few years. “Last fall, we had excessive buying, so we had backed off on buying but we are back buying lumber again. Flooring businesses have been bad for the last 24 months and on a scale of 1-10, it was a three but now it looks like a five. We can tell when business is better when one of my New York guys is calling me. It’s going to be better, and half our competition is gone. Armstrong is gone and laid off 350 people. New York used to take all of our 2C flooring but now they are all LVT or LVL from China. We sell more 2C in Texas and California now.”
“My long-term advice for young people is this,” he continued, “they must be dedicated to this business or not be in it. I walk into my mill several times a day and talk with my people because I want to know them. People must talk to their customers the same way to know them.”
Another representative for Maxwell Hardwood Flooring, David Engelkes, was celebrating his 33rd year with the company and commented on their plans. “We have lumber coming in. Maybe maintaining inventory, possibly building a little.”
Chad Smith from USNR, which has their global headquarters in Woodland, WA, explained why business is “better than expected” while being “hit or miss.” “We operate under the US/MX/CA Act, and we have zero tariffs because we have manufacturing facilities in both CA and the U.S.”
Jason Bunch from Waynesboro, MS-based, Deepwell Forest Products, commented that they are “good on logs but have less than a million feet. I have seen an increase of upper grade Red Oak but not on White Oak.”
Woody Farrar, also with Deepwell Forest Products, commented on the matting business, which, in 2024, was “good in access matting. We do the entire process: matting, hauling, installing and building them for our own use. 2025 has been positive so far.”
Mike Noland from Noland Lumber, located in Gordo, AL, said they “live on the industrial side of things. We are in a good shape on logs. We have seen things like this in the past in 1982 and 1994. Labor has gotten better but it costs 35 percent more and monthly bills are up 40 percent compared to before the pandemic.”
Marty Cornett with Pierce Construction Co. in Petal, MS, described what his company is experiencing regarding the tariffs. There is “lots of waiting and seeing,” he said. “Our business has slowed down but is still out six to eight months. Steel prices are moving up. We have a clause in our contracts that if steel prices
move up or down five percent, we sit down with the customer and adjust our prices.”
“There is a millwork plant in KY investing $30 million in a couple of their moulding and millwork plants,” Cornett added.
Chattanooga, TN-based, Corley Manufacturing Co, representative Keith Price, noted that they are “out about 10 months on our projects and controls are out 10 to 16 weeks. We only use US steel.”
Spokesperson Chad Sorrells from Sorrells Sawmill in Ouachita County, AR, reported that, at the time of this writing, it is “very wet in our area. We have logs but not enough, we would like to have enough to last until July. Lumber is better but we can’t haul dust or chips to any of our three paper mills.”
North American Tie & Timber has a treating plant located in Scott City, MO, and Will Cumberland, a company representative, mentioned that “most RR’s are back to their maintenance programs, requiring 20 million ties annually.”
The Railway Tie Association, located in Vicksburg, MS, had Nate Irby as their spokesperson at the event. “There are 18 to 22 million railway ties needed every year. The tie grading seminar in March was full and had a dozen rail roaders there. The annual conference is in October in San Antonio, TX. Thank you for every tie that gets made.”
Wayne Fendley with Linden Lumber LLC, located in Linden, AL, added his thoughts on the railway tie situation. “Right now, tie buyers have a lot of friends. We are running three mills in Linden, AL, Grove Hill, AL and Silas, AL. On labor, we just keep digging in and we must think positive about the future. Frame stock is difficult, but we must remain positive.”
Lawrence Jones with Stella-Jones, a Montreal, QC-based, Canadian manufacturing company with United States locations, noted, at the time of this writing that it is “wet in my area of Los Angeles, CA. Five inches of rain in each of the last two weekends. Tie inventories are full.”
Toto Robinson with New Orleans, LA-headquartered, Robinson Lumber Co., reported on tariffs, log species and how different states are affected by these details. “Imported hardwoods are affected by tariffs as is Appalachian White Oak. Poplar is hot and there are not enough logs. Kentucky is being affected by all the storms, so they have no logs. Red Oak and White Oak are steady but possibly a little depressed. It is hard to make a living on Cherry, Walnut and Maple. No one is making money and too many small mills are disappearing.”
“We have a 90-day moratorium on tariffs with all but China, and the EU has matched that moratorium. It’s worrisome to me. I am the oldest person in the room. The industry is getting smaller and that is disturbing. This organization talks and there are ‘truth tellers’ here. We all depend on growth and when our industry grows, it’s good. When it shrinks, it’s rough,” Robinson added.
Craig Pharr, spokesperson for Marietta, MS-based, Marietta Wood Supply, discussed the state of business for them. “We are running 45 hours a week and the new mill is running better. We have about 4 million feet of logs and I have my loggers on quota for the first time ever. Thank God for cross ties. Pulp wood is harder for us than chips and dust.”
Jeff Wilkinson, a spokesperson for Indiana Veneers Corp. in Indianapolis, IN, commented that it is, at the time of this writing, “very wet in our area. Me and my son run a small sawmill. Poplar is good and White Oak is down. White Oak logs are going to continue in a downward trend. In our area a lot of logs were going to China, and some are being diverted to Vietnam.
“Independent stave mills have been running three shifts and now they are down to one shift,” Wilkinson continued. “A large cooperage in Louisville, KY, has shut down.”
Lance Ramsey with Trinity Mats LLC located in Batson, TX, also commented on the weather in his area at the time of this writing. “It’s been wet for four months. 8-foot and 12-foot mats are good right now. There is not much log supply around.”
Buncombe County, NC’s, Little River Lumber Co., had representative Danny Arnold attend the meeting. Arnold commented that he “finally got rid of my inventory in Indiana and Ketnucky. It was mostly frame stock. No. 1 Common and Better Red and White Oak prices have dropped $300/million board feet and freight costs have gone up 20 percent in the last month. There is not much 14/16’ lumber and too much 8’ lumber.”
Eddie Carson with Beasley Flooring Products, which has locations in Macon, GA, Hazlehurst, GA, and Bryson City, NC, mentioned that the company is “okay” regarding lumber. “We are running the flooring plant six days a week and looking at a second shift, in addition to running two shifts on ripping. We also started to control inventory on finished goods and raw material.
“Truck flooring prices are picking back up again,” Carson added. “Incoming lumber is a roller coaster up and down week to week. Whatever they are selling is what I am buying. Throwing money at it is not the answer. There is smaller availability in White Oak and the slower stave market has helped my White Oak inventory.”
Kasey Pittman with Jones Lumber Co., a company that has locations throughout Mississippi, reported that it is also “wet here in Mississippi. The Bay Springs, MS, and Hazlehurst, MS, mills are strictly industrial. The Natchez, MS, mill is running industrial right now. We are pretty good on laminated mats right now, but I have 600 million board feet of 2×8 8-foot on sticks right now. I’ve been buying 14 and 16-foot BR.”
Another Jones Lumber Co. spokesperson, Jonathan Smith, out of the Bay Springs, MS, location, added that being “out of logs gives us time for maintenance. When it dries up, we will be back running.”
Skipper Beal from Newberry County, SC-based, Beal Lumber Co., shared that their “Hurdle mill burned down in October. We are running our band mill in Piedmont. Our biggest problem is that we continue to lose customers. We have a four-month supply of logs, and we have loggers on quota. I lost about five days of production with a problem in our band mill.”
Rutland Lumber Co, based in Collins, MS, had several representatives in attendance, including Leslie Rutland, Joey Childs and Tyler Walley. Leslie stated that with “plenty of logs, people may want to lower their price a little.
Also, why aren’t we looking at using wood fired energy? It’s ‘green’ and it’s sustainable.”
Childs added that they are “out of logs.”
Walley noted that, at the time of this writing, “this has been a tricky week- tariffs went from 34 percent to 84 percent to 125 percent to 145 percent and China stopped at 145 percent.
Lumber is under the USMCA Act to Mexico and Canada, so it is exempt. Long length WO is bringing a premium. Overall, the temperature of the market is up but inventory is down. If the trade war doesn’t mess things up, this should be a good year.”
Myles Hudson with Superior Mat Co., located in Collins, MS, said they are “Still seeing a robust demand for 8-foot and 12-foot mats.”
Charlie and Seth Netterville both attended the meeting to represent Woodville, MS-based, Fred Netterville Lumber Co. Charlie said that they are “running both mills for 45 hours but we’re not running kilns. We built a new tie mill this year. I’ve worked my whole life in grade lumber and it’s hard now. We’re low on logs.”
Scott Wesberry also attended under the Fred Netterville name to say that this is a “great industry.”
Seth chimed in, stating, “I do all the logging and buying tracts of timber. It looks like we are going to have a few good weeks. In 2000, we were a 14-billion-foot industry and now we are less than four billion.”
Blu Lowery with Linden, TX-based, Ward Timber Ltd., explained that logging in East Texas has been “good” and that their trucking has “gotten better” because “we changed all our trucks to automatic transmissions.” Residuals, however, are a “day-to-day fight.”
Jerry Hendrix attended the event on behalf of Ward Timber as well and shared information about their products. “We are 75 percent pine now, but we used to cut 50 million board feet of hardwood a year. Our pine, especially the kiln-dried, is picking up and labor is better.”
Mac McPhillips, with Richard Murray & Co., located in Mobile, AL, commented, as of this writing, that “90 percent of our imports come from Asia and some duty payments are up $100,000 or more. Truck flooring is being imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. Import tariffs are exempt till Nov 25th.”
Billy Cowart and Pete Johnson with Taylor Machine Works, Inc., located in Louisville, MS, had a few thoughts to share. Cowart said, “We need the interest rate to go down,” while Johnson said they are “glad” to be in attendance.
Jimmy Hunt and Jim Olson, who was proud to admit that it was his “first time at one of these meetings,” attended on behalf of Hunt Forest Products LLC, which has a corporate office in Ruston, LA. Hunt stated that they are “out of hardwood logs” and are “producing seven million feet a week of southern yellow pine lumber.”
Olson also added that the prices “have not gone down, as we generally see a seasonal uptick in prices in the spring. We are optimistic about the next 12 months as housing starts have gone up to 1.5 million starts from 1.3 million starts.”
Robyn Birdsong with Utica, MS-based, Kitchens Lumber Company LLC, mentioned they are “low on logs. We have had a lot of breakdowns and problems, but we are back up running again for nine hours a day. We ran two shifts on our Hurdle mill while the grade mill was down.”
Jack Williams, with AssuredPartners, which is headquartered in Orlando, FL, stated that he is there to be a “resource for insurance coverage and rates.”
Nick Moore, who attended as a Tennessee sawmill representative, shared his opinion on cross ties and lumber. “Cross ties are the only thing holding us up right now. Is lumber going to go back up? We must buy standing timber.”
To learn more, visit swhmc.com.
