Natchez, MS–The Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers Club recently gathered at the Grand Hotel, located here, for their annual roundtable business meeting, which was followed by an open bar, music, a crawfish boil, or an optional steak if you were a little skittish.
The gathering was well attended with approximately 80 people at the business meeting and almost twice that number at the crawfish boil with wives and significant others attending.
Everyone expressed a positive attitude regarding strong demand for Hardwood lumber and industrial products, such as railroad ties, flooring, pallets, mats, etc. As a result of strong demand, Hardwood market prices have continued to increase and it’s difficult to say when demand and prices will level off.
Log supply is reported as less than adequate, but with the southeast experiencing wet weather and the beginning of hurricane season, it will be some time before mills are comfortable with their log inventories. Equipment manufacturers are all busy with some booked out for a year.
As for problems, for the mills right now labor is without a doubt the number one issue and that goes from logging crews, sawmills, flooring plants, trucking, and it’s a problem in virtually every industry. Finding employees, much less employees that can pass a drug test was a repeated concern. There were a few sawmills at the SWHMC meeting that were running more than one shift, but most were running 40 hours a week because they simply can’t find enough employees. The exception regarding running more than one shift was the flooring plants but they, too, are having difficulty finding enough employees.
A comment more than one mill owner expressed was: “how do you find enough employees to work when the government is paying people all these subsidies for people to stay at home?”
One mill spokesman in Alabama said, “I’ve been in this industry for 49 years and I’ve never seen anything like this…I’ve never seen a lumber market this good, so let’s just enjoy the ride!
Learn more about this organization by visiting www.swhmc.com.
Frank Owens, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS; Bubba Lammons, All Star Forest Products Inc., Fairhope, AL; Charlie Netterville, Fred Netterville Lumber Co., Woodville, MS; Howard Jones, J.M. Jones Lumber Co. Inc., Natchez, MS; and David Roberts, Stella-Jones Corp., Alexandria, LA
Toto Robinson, Robinson Lumber Company, New Orleans, LA; Eddie Carson, Beasley Flooring Group, Franklin, NC; J.R. Johns, Mitco Sales, Memphis, TN; David Caldwell, Hardwood Market Report, Memphis, TN; Kelly Hostetter, Robinson Lumber Company; and Butch Ousley, Buchanan Hardwoods, Aliceville, AL
Duncan Ferguson, Sawmill MD, Crestview, FL; Steve Galloway, AHF Products LLC, Warren, AR; and Robyn Birdsong and Grady Humphries, Kitchens Lumber Co., Utica, MS
Tommy Maxwell, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring, Monticello, AR; Kelly Rose, First Horizon Bank, Pocahontas, AR; Kevin Lammons, All Star Forest Products Inc., Nashville, TN; Wood Holly, Linden Lumber LLC, Linden, AL; and Bill Buchanan, Buchanan Hardwoods, Aliceville, AL
Chuck Boaz, Corley Manufacturing, Chattanooga, TN; Tim Lott and Tyler Walley, Rutland Lumber Co., Collins, MS; Joe Michael Rose, Superior Mat Co., Collins, MS; and Adam Wade and Alan Sherrington, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
John Jones and Blu Lowery, Ward Timber Ltd., Linden, TX; Keith Price, Corley Manufacturing, Chattanooga, TN; Scott Gladys, Fromm Packaging Systems Inc., Boonton, NJ; Chad Smith, USNR, Hot Springs, AR; and Bob White, Pierce Construction & Maintenance Co. Inc., Jacksonville, FL
Connor Peterson and Dee Peterson, Keith D. Peterson & Co. Inc., Shreveport, LA; Rick Hanna, Hanna Manufacturing Co. Inc., Winnfield, LA; and Cody Moak and Jordan Clark, Hunt Forest Products LLC, Olla, LA
Stan Morgan, J.M. Jones Lumber Co. Inc., Natchez, MS; Buddy Downey, Stella-Jones Corp., Pittsburgh, PA; Ray Curly, Jacob Harrison and Stan Hill, J.M. Jones Lumber Co. Inc.
Barrett Baine and Brendan Beesley, V&B International Inc., Port Gibson, MS; David Engelkes, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring, Monticello, AR; Tony Butler, Hunt Forest Products LLC, Ruston, LA; and Wesley Robinson, Robinson Lumber Company, New Orleans, LA
Bill Behan, Gross & Janes Corp., St. Louis, MO; Deadra Arthur, Ally Global Logistics LLC, Memphis, TN; Nate Irby, Union Pacific Railroad, Vicksburg, MS; and Ronald Holland, Gross & Janes Railroad Cross Ties, Natchitoches, LA
Buddy Downey, Stella-Jones Corp., Pittsburgh, PA; Chad Sorrells, Sorrells Sawmill Inc., Holly Springs, AR; Ashley Goodin, Railway Tie Association, Americus, GA; Lance Ramsay, Yazoo Lumber and Mats, Yazoo City, MS; Pete Johnson, Taylor Machine Works Inc., Louisville, MS; and Kevin Noland, Rives & Reynolds Lumber Co. Inc., Louisville, MS
Steve Benefield, Ocean Freight Express LLC, Atlanta, GA; Paul Miller Jr., National Hardwood Magazine, Memphis, TN; and Mac McPhillips, Ocean Freight Express LLC, Mobile, AL
Jan and Charlie Netterville, Leighton and Seth Netterville, Fred Netterville Lumber Co., Woodville, MS
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