Page 26 - Georgia Forestry - Summer 2017

Regardless of Canadian exports or U.S. tariffs, Canadian sawmills are near capacity while their timber supplies continue to fall and domestic demand continues to rise. The Canadian softwood lumber industry is effectively in a shrinking box.
said, “The dispute makes it sound like Canada has $20 bills scattered on the ground throughout its forests. If it’s so great in Canada, why are the big guys moving to the U.S.?”
Why indeed? Today, in the U.S. South, three of the top five softwood lumber pro- ducers are Canadian firms: Canfor, Interfor and West Fraser. And these firms started buying Southern mills back in 2006.
So how should timberland investors and U.S. producers think about this moving forward?
Consider these
facts on Canada:
Canadian domestic use of softwood lumber is rising (they build homes in Canada, too).
Canadian softwood lumber capacity continues to fall. Our analysis has Cana- dian capacity below 30 billion board feet, down from nearly 38 billion board feet 10 years ago.
Canadian provinces continue to reduce the allowable annual cut (AAC) from their forests.
How does this compare
with the U.S. South?
Production is increasing. We expect the South to break its all-time production levels in two years.
Capacity continues to grow, with Southern sawmill capacity nearly 2/3 as big as all of Canada.
Capital expenditures are up at firms such as Conifex, Georgia-Pacific, Interfor and Weyerhaeuser.
Serving the Southeast for 30 years.
BEACH TIMBER COMPANY, Inc.
We are pole, piling, and mulch manufacturers, focusing on procuring wood and buying timber.
Gary Strickland, Owner
(912) 632-2800
www.beachtimber.com
P.O. Box 763 • Alma, GA 31510
Georgia
Tree Farm Program
We grow stewardship from the roots.
1132 Clairmont Place Macon, Georgia 31204 478.972.7899 cell, 478.474.5817 fax
georgiatreefarm@gmail.com www.treefarmsystem.org/georgia www.GATreeFarm.org
24 | GEORGIA FORESTRY