Natchez, MS–Members and guests of the Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers Club (SWHMC) met here recently at Natchez Grand Hotel for their annual roundtable meeting and crawfish boil.
Sawmill representatives in attendance offered a mixed glimpse of how the market activity for them is performing.
The following comments are from Mississippi reps:
•April was a very good month and sales have been good so far this year. Not sure what is ahead, but optimistic about the possibilities. Mat sales are good and look to remain good for the rest of this year. Logs are tight due to weather issues. Labor problems continue and skilled labor is very difficult to find.
•Tie production and shipments are great. Flooring shipments and outlook is looking up. Only have about 1 week of logs with plenty of logs bought, but not able to get them out of the woods. Mill hours dropped back to 40 hours per week from 45 hours. Lowest paid employee now is $15 per hour. NOTE: Business models are changing, and they have to change. Red Oak is now nothing more than Sap Gum. Southern Hardwood production is trending toward industrial products. This mill is 70% or more industrial products.
•Mats are very busy and looks to continue throughout the year. The lumber industry needs more data available to the general public concerning the physical strengths of Hardwood in construction applications.
Overall data is not enough in search engines and online resources that is available to engineers and sourcing managers in the construction industry.
•Log prices are too high and log supply is tight due to weather. Focusing on mixed wood for crossties and switch ties.
Alabama mill representatives noted the following:
•Logs supply is just okay, not great. First quarter was not good, but second quarter is better. Crossties, switch ties and timbers are moving well.
•Lumber supply is adequate for the flooring market, but log supply needs to improve. Flooring is showing slow improvements.
An Arkansas attendee noted that they were out of logs. Crossties are good right now and they need a grade lumber market and there is not one.
A Tennessee attendee said all of April they ran both mills, producing ties, switch ties and board road lumber for laminated mat production. At the time of this writing, they were out of logs. Weather issues are preventing log supply increases.
From Louisiana, an SWHMC attendee commented they are optimistic about Hardwood but is has been hard to get logs in due to weather. Production hours were cut to 30 hours per week. They have been sawing 4/4 and 5/4 Red Oak along with switch ties. Pine production is still okay.
In attendance at SWHMC were several crosstie and switch tie manufacturers too. One from Louisiana said low log supplies are having an effect on incoming ties, but still getting good numbers each month. Bridge timbers have been good this year. Tie production has been really good in the Northeast and the Southeast, but not as good in the Deep South and the West due to heavy rains curtailing log harvesting.
A representative from Mississippi explained switch tie production has been really good, however, log supplies are not good and not improving at the moment. Short ties were good at the time of this writing and this attendee hoped that log supply improves and incoming tie numbers will increase.
According to an attendee from the Railway Tie Association, current tie inventory is about 13.5 million ties. Tie demand is expected to remain high for the next 12-18 months. RTA has been providing tie grading courses in different locations.
As for flooring manufacturers and concentration yards in attendance, they offered the following statements:
•From Arkansas: Flooring is fair. Lumber is coming in, but not pouring in. There is antcipation of increased green lumber production in the coming months. We need flooring sales to increase in coming months.
•From Alabama: Flooring has been a little slow but they are seeing some increased interest.
•From Missouri: Lumber inventory is not where it needs to be, but they are receiving lumber daily. Their facility in Warren is running one shift at present and West Plains plant is running 2 shifts per day.
•From Georgia: Flooring is okay. Green flooring production is lower in NC, SC, GA, and TN due to log supply. Currently running the pre-finished plant for three days a week and the unfinished flooring two days per week.
•From Louisiana: Asia is and has been really slow. Europe remains to be a good FAS White Oak market. This company is finding that kiln-dried lumber is in tight supply and the demand for kiln-dried lumber is tight as well. Forecast for the summer is that production will over supply most species here in the States.
•From Indiana: Log supply in Indiana is really good right now (at the time of this writing). White Oak logs and Walnut logs are in high demand both in stave production and in veneer production.
The SWHMC will be holding its 2023 Summer Meeting on July 28 and 29 at the Gulf State Park Lodge in Gulf Shores, AL.
Learn more at www.swhmc.com.
