Softwood lumber industry spokespeople report that 2020 was a successful year for their companies – despite COVID and other challenges. One industry executive stated that success in 2020 could be measured by the fact that his business stayed running during the pandemic. In 2021, the spokespeople predict, the challenges will be having enough product, maintaining company culture in a work-from-home environment and having a dependable labor force.
James Venters
Alta Forest Products
Chehalis, WA
2020 was a successful business year, but it has created a number of challenges heading into 2021. Supply chain shortages on both raw material and finished lumber will be the main obstacles to overcome next year.
We have a good mix of Retail and Stocking Distributors serving both the DIY and installing contractor markets. We use the term “shipping off the saws,” meaning material is produced and shipped the same day. That term applied to nearly every product we produced this year.
We had such a tough time keeping up with demand that introducing new products really wasn’t an option this year.
There were several capital projects finished this year. Nearly all of them were geared towards improving the utilization of our raw material.
We experienced railroad delays throughout the year with the worst delays coming in spring and early summer. Over the road freight has been tight all year and costs are up significantly.
Rob Chimko
Dakeryn Industries
North Vancouver, BC
2020 was very successful financially but mentally exhausting with COVID and working remotely. We sell to retailers, treaters and box stores. In transportation, we have had winter shortage of trucks. As an exporter, we noticed duties dropping from 20 percent to 9 percent but there are no significant concerns.
Dean Garofano
Delta Cedar Specialties
Delta, BC
2020 was a strong year for Delta Cedar Specialties. Sales were up significantly, and we saw very strong demand for our DC products throughout the year. We expect demand to stay strong for 2021 but Cedar log supply is the single biggest obstacle to us being able to repeat our 2020 success.
We sell to distribution yards in the U.S. and Canada and manufacturing facilities offshore. Demand in 2020 was strong for most products, but our DC Superior and Supreme decking had the most demand.
The recent CVD reduction resulting from AR1 and AR2 is welcomed news for our industry. AR 3 will be out soon, and we are hopeful about a negotiated settlement will start before the end of 2021, so the industry can have some certainty going forward.
Matt Duprey
Hancock Lumber
Casco, ME
Fortunately, and despite this unprecedented year, Hancock Lumber has had a successful 2020. Being classified as essential business, combined with our company’s health and safety policies, we have been able to operate our three mills to full capacity during the Coronavirus pandemic. Demand has been at all-time highs throughout, and our customer base has been incredibly busy. As we look forward to 2021, we predict as much success as 2020, with potential—and hope—for it to be even better. Keeping our employees safe and healthy will continue to be our number one priority and an ongoing challenge with COVID-19; hopefully vaccinations will be released and help mitigate the risk as we go through the year.
Our customer base is wholesale distributors, Hancock Lumber’s network of lumberyards, “Big Box” partners, manufacturers, export markets and brokers. While all products sold well this year due to strong demand, the biggest growth segment we’ve experienced has been with pattern stock products.
Hancock Lumber is fortunate to have a leadership team committed to annual reinvestments in capital projects. In 2020, we successfully completed the following upgrades: sawmill auto grader, edger upgrade and log deck in the Casco Sawmill; Infinite fence for Bethel’s planer and Planer rebuild and new shavings system in Pittsfield. Additionally, we invested capital dollars on a lot of small, but important, projects at all three mills plus rolling stock and pavement. As always, the goal with these projects centered around safety, and increased efficiencies and recoveries to reduce downtime and costs. Of course, many of these projects aimed to improve our product quality, which is always top-of-mind as our production grows.
Domestically, we have found trucking to be pretty consistent this year. Pricing and reliability are key to transportation for our business. Typically, Hancock Pine products are two shipping days or less away from 90 percent of our markets—so, having good, reliable freight partners makes all the difference in response time from manufacturing completion to delivery to our customers. While export freight has also been fairly consistent, the rates are quite unreliable from month to month, leading to pricing challenges for wood going to overseas markets. You just never know—when bookings get cancelled, freight increases.
Fortunately, Hancock Lumber’s export markets are consistent, with wood going into markets that value Eastern White Pine where tariffs typically do not come into play when selling our product. The quality of Eastern White Pine is what they need and that tends to trump tariffs.
Dave Halsey
Patrick Lumber Company
Portland, OR
Would we define 2020 as a successful business year for our company, and what challenges must we overcome to be equally or more successful in 2021? Yes, 2020 was successful for us, and our biggest challenge will be keeping and developing our culture in the WFH environment and ensure we have adequate supply for our customer base.
Our customers are primarily distributors; almost all of our product lines were under produced for the market.
In 2020, we have installed dry kilns, packaging line, automation sticker stacker and sort line and another five acres graveled and leveled for lumber storage. These investments improve our ability to serve our customers’ increased demands and improve our quality control.
What transportation/shipping issues are we experiencing, both domestically and internationally? We have had substantial challenges on both fronts, as it has been widely reported. These are real.
Tariffs are and probably always will be a part of our business. We deal with them as a cost of operating and work to diversify our customer base to mitigate the targeted nature of some tariffs.
Jamie Hursh
Richardson Timbers
Dallas, TX
2020 was a successful year. It did come with challenges although it was hard to maintain our inventory levels because material was constantly shipped late. I look for 2021 to be close to 2020 with a small increase as long as the mills are able to keep up with demand.
We are wholesale only and sell to retail lumber dealers. New services or products we introduced to customers in 2020 included No. 1 & Btr. KD Douglas Fir S1S2E with the rough finish being rougher headed. We stock this product in 1×4 thru 1×12. We have also tried to make our customers more aware of a service we provide called Tru-Ruf, which removes band marks and stain but keeps the rough texture.
Our transportation issue is only that trucks are harder to cover and the cost is going up.
Alden Robbins
Robbins Lumber, Inc.
Searsmont, ME
I would classify 2020 as successful since we were able to stay running during all the challenges that the pandemic brought us. We are working hard to keep employees safe, and products flowing. To be successful in 2021 we will need to be able to produce more product for our customers, safely and profitably.
We sell to wholesale distributors outside of the State of Maine, and retail yards within the State. We produce a multiple of patterns, which is our specialty, and have been selling very strong. Prefinished paneling and trim is also a growing market segment.
New services or products we introduced to customers in 2020 include a variety of different coated products, included UV coated clears, and end matched products.
We installed an End Matcher to help get better recovery and add value to our paneling. It can reduce installation time, reduce waste on the jobsite, and provide different looks. We also installed a UV coating machine, along with a profile sander ahead of it to increase the production out of our prefinished line and offer more products.
Trucks have been a little difficult to find, but not as bad as previous years. We use flatbeds almost exclusively. Currently we are not affected by any tariffs.
Trina V Francesconi
Sandy Neck Traders
South Dennis, MA
2020 was a successful year for Sandy Neck Traders. Besides a slump in late March when the COVID concerns first started, sales remained up between 10-25 percent each month.
Currently, the biggest challenge has been and remains availability. Our order files are currently extended 6-10 weeks on some items, and we are completely off the market on others. We continue to work on educating our customers about these extended lead times so they can get orders in and we can ensure we meet their schedules. This will be exceptionally important going into the 2021 season while availability remains volatile.
We continue to offer mixed truckloads from our New England yard, as well as mill direct loads and shipments out of our Lancaster County warehouse to best serve our customers and their needs.
We sell to industrial manufacturers and independent lumberyards nationwide. Pine and Cedar common grade 4/4 stock are our strongest sellers.
In 2020 we premiered Western Red Cedar fence panels in several styles, a line we intend to grow for the 2021 season. In response to customer struggles with staffing, we are also offering custom milling in both our Pine and Cedar to help our customers cut back on their production time.
We are now working with a team of trusted local carriers that have significantly increased our turnaround times and allow us to offer our customers better real time information regarding their deliveries. Our customers and vendors have mentioned that they appreciate having familiar faces pick up and deliver their loads. We continue to work on increasing our network of trusted carriers to ensure the best service for our customers.
In 2021 we are continuing to closely monitor the market conditions and respond accordingly. 2020 was a tumultuous year, and we believe that by adjusting practices and procedures as necessary with the climate at the time, we were best able to keep our customers supplied and moving.
Paul Ericson
Shelton Structures, Inc.
Chehalis, WA
2020 has been surprisingly successful. I expected a big drop in business after the initial lockdowns with COVID but the opposite happened, and demand got stronger. Challenges going forward are having a dependable labor force (this has been an issue well before 2020), lumber supply, unknown policy changes with a new administration coming in and COVID restrictions.
Wholesale distributors are our primary customers. Lock Deck laminated T&G decking, engineered posts, and our custom remanufacturing services were all strong this year.
We now offer more finishing/texturing options like circle sawn, wire brush, vinyl brush textures.
In 2020, we installed a circle sawn, wire brush, vinyl brush texturing machine that we built in house. We also just purchased a Weinig Hydromat 3000 planer/moulder capable of running 12” patterns that will be in operation in early 2021. This is in addition to the Weinig H23 C moulder already in use.
Our customers and suppliers typically arrange trucking. All are reporting some difficulty in availability of trucks.
Chad Findlay
West Bay Forest Products
Langley, BC
2020 has been a turbulent year for many, affecting nearly every industry across the world. Fortunately, the lumber industry has found success amongst the chaos, and companies such as West Bay Forest Products (West Bay) have thrived.
We’ve continued to grow our business by about 15 percent over 2019, expanding into new areas, products, and business verticals – all while continuing to support our local communities and staff who have helped make it possible.
The challenge for us is the same one facing everyone in the industry – fiber supply, fiber supply, fiber supply. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic along with other factors have accelerated the fiber supply challenges in Canada that have been developing for years. Moving forward into 2021, there must be a shift to provide access to secure, affordable, and sustainable fiber for the smaller and medium sized mills if the industry is to continue to thrive.
Without the fiber, we can’t do what we do best – deliver excellent products to our customers. West Bay may not be the biggest supplier of Western Red Cedar products, but we stand by our products knowing that they’re produced with quality that our customers love.
This includes our regular product lines such as:
- Timbers
- 2” Green and KD S4S / S1S2E Decking, Fascia and Balusters
- 5/4” Green and KD S1S2E and Radius Edge Decking
- 2” R/H Dimension
- 1×6 KD T&G
- KD and Green Bevel Sidings
- West Bay’s NextGen Engineered Cedar Products
With a strong foundation of well-known products, this year also saw us turn our eyes to the future. This means new services, equipment, and products, including more NextGen Engineered Cedar in all 16’ and 20’ lengths:
- 6”, 8”, & 10” KD Bevel Siding
- 1×8, 1×10, & 1×12 KD S1S2E Boards
- 7/8”x8, 7/8”x10, & 7/8”x12 KD S1S2E Boards
- 5/4” S1S2E KD Fascia
- 2” R/H KD Dimension
- 2” S4S KD Dimension
To meet the demands of the market, and to help us establish our new product lines, we have also invested in our production and people. In early 2019 we opened a brand-new facility in Smelterville, ID, with full manufacturing capabilities including a planer, dry kiln, resaw, stacker, and packaging line, staffed by an experienced, professional team that shares our vision for delivering a quality product at the right price.
In addition, we have expanded our presence in Washington State with the inclusion of a new sawmill to complement our remanufacturing facilities and to help us get ahead of fiber supply issues. This has allowed us to be more responsive to meeting our customer’s requests for specific sizes and lengths. It’s been a great development for us so far, and there are so many more opportunities to come.
2020 was a year of innovation. It was a year of growth into new areas, of learning, and of coming together as a team. As we continue to think of new ways to satisfy customer demand in 2021, we’re also committed to fighting for what’s right in our industry. Led by the same core team and values of honesty and integrity for the past two decades, West Bay will continue to deliver high quality products, care for our communities, and get through this pandemic safely together.
