SWHMC Members Share Industry Insights At Annual Gathering 

SWHMC Members Share Industry Insights At Annual Gathering 

Approximately 60 members and guests were in attendance recently at the annual Southwestern Hardwood Manufacturers Club (SWHMC) crawfish boil held at The Grand Hotel in Natchez, MS.

An icebreaker gathering kicked off the event, followed by the club’s roundtable discussion, which ended with the crawfish boil and street party.

Attendees shared the triumphs and challenges they are experiencing in 2026.

For example, Bill Price with All Star Forest Products, of Jackson, MS, said they are celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Their remanufacturing plant has been steady. They do a lot of cut-to-size products with panels. He noted margins are being squeezed and they are moving inventory.

A hardwood sawmill in western Alabama is surviving on industrials. Their representative stated that their gravy is kiln-dried lumber but it’s very difficult and business is tough.

Wood Holley in Linden, AL said they are struggling, and recently shut down their tie mill in Linden between quotas and prices. They run two sawmills. They make crane mats and dry some lumber, as well as offer some Cypress. KD lumber reportedly is doing okay. They sell some green lumber too but they do not export.

Toto Robinson, Robinson Lumber Company, has a concentration yard in Albany, IN, and headquarters in New Orleans, LA. Their issues are freight due to a lack of drivers currently and the increase in diesel fuel. They do a lot of sales around the world, as well as procure a lot of lumber in the North and throughout the Lake States. Wesley Robinson stated there is not a lot of KD lumber available but it appears that log decks are adequate. He said Europe is relatively active with their purchasing. Asia, after the New Years holiday ended, has been more active. There are some suppliers that are out of Red Oak right now and White Oak has varying lengths, but 8-foot lumber in White Oak is struggling. Rift and quartered has shown some decline as far as demand.

Biochar is a new product from Robinson Lumber Company. They have a char facility at their Albany location. Biochar stores carbon much longer; one of its benefits is being used in agriculture.

Tommy Maxwell with Maxwell Hardwood Flooring in Monticello, AR, said the flooring business has been very difficult. It’s been tough for four years, he said, with spurts of business in those four years, but it just doesn’t last. Maxwell said that he was a little bit surprised when a New York flooring distributor wanted two or three loads of his high-grade flooring, which they didn’t have the inventory on hand to sell to him. Otherwise, Maxwell is getting some business. Although, they have considerably less inventory this year than last year. His upper grade flooring, engineered wide plank, and his select products in flooring is doing well and he is sold out.

Tim Lott with Rutland Lumber Company said they have dropped from two shifts to one shift and have low log decks. They are getting some logs in, but they didn’t have enough logs to run two shifts. Since he laid off the second shift he was able to pick the best between two shifts for the one shift.

Jason Bunch runs a sawmill in Waynesboro, MS and he has dropped the price on his logs, but they are still coming. He is having difficulty keeping employees. He runs the mill 40-45 hours a week cutting mats, ties and lumber, primarily.

JR Johns from MITCO Sales out of Memphis, TN, said the tie business in Tennessee and Kentucky is slow, but he is cautiously optimistic. 

Jeff Wilkinson, from Indiana, runs a small sawmill and he said his business has been good. They buy logs for that mill, as well as veneer logs.

Will Cumberland with North American Tie & Timber LLC in Meridian, MS, buys railroad ties, but the ties market is down because they have overbought.

He said they have had good years in ties but they had a fire at their treating plant about a year and a half ago so they’re able to do the same production volume as they once did, but also can increase as demand increases.

Chad Sorrells with Sorrells Sawmill Inc. in Holly Springs, AR, said everything that he produces is moving.

Blu Lowery with Ward Timber Ltd. in Linden, Texas said their goal is to run three weeks of pine and one week of hardwood.

A representative with Koppers said the last couple of years he feels the railroads have over bought and that’s why some are on allocation. Tie business sales are down right now, he added.

Koppers said they’ve idled their plant in Florence, SC, due to the current demand being off and they will bring it back when it makes sense.

Kasey Pittman with Jones Lumber Co. Inc. operates a grade mill in Natchez, MS, an industrial mill in Bay Springs, MS and Hazlehurst, MS.

Their grade mill was cutting mats until recently, but they have started cutting grade lumber at the Natchez facility.

Their mat business has been good. He added that there are not many used mats, and they are being depleted as far as inventory.

Eddie Carson, with Beasley Forest Products Inc., said inventory is adequate at both flooring plants. He would like to have more inventory. They do a lot of business with Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards but they are going to stop carrying flooring inventory at all the stores. Eventually they are going to start carrying a higher inventory at the mill so now the flooring mill holds the inventory. When they sell it, they have two days to ship it.  

Beasley shut down the tie mill in Sandersville, GA. The mills that they buy from in Indiana, Tennessee,
Alabama and Georgia said they have plenty of logs.

Six years ago, Eddie Carson had 84 vendors as far as lumber for flooring and now, they have 37.

He added that wide plank flooring is moving much better than narrow.

Randy Martin at Stella-Jones Corp. is in the company’s bridge department and he said he was very busy. He is working with the longer timbers for bridge ties.

Skipper Beal with Beal Lumber Co. Inc., Prosperity, SC, has enough logs to run 36-38 hours a week. His biggest concern is moving residuals, chips, dust, and bark. He used to get $32 a ton for chips but it is down to $19 now.

Charlie Netterville of Fred Netterville Lumber Co. in Woodville, MS, runs both mills 50 hours. They have four logging crews along with his son, Seth, that operates four logging crews. However, they have problems moving their residuals as far as chips and sawdust.

Ties, though, are okay, and their mill is 80 percent industrial now.

They don’t run their kilns anymore and their laminated mats’ business is better.

Tyler Walley with Rutland Lumber Company handles the upgrade sales out of Collins, MS. He is on the one shift and sales have been good for their exports. He said his sales overall have been steady.

He said when he went to Vietnam in November, he saw the largest world inventory he has ever seen over in Vietnam, Walnut, Cherry, Red and White Oak.

Bubba Lammons, who is with All Star Forest Products Inc., said the company has lined up with a middleman in Louisiana and the focus out of that mill is 12-inch mats, primarily 20 to 40-foot lengths and they buy the timber that way.

They are not as competitive cutting 8-inch mats as they are with the big timber or the bigger mat, the 12x’s. They think the fourth quarter of this year for the big mats is going to be extremely good.

They build 40-foot mats that are in high demand. 40-foot timbers most people can’t do.

They also do quite a bit of Cypress and dry their own.

Learn more about this club by visiting swhmc.com.