Tom Harris, Publisher (706)542-2832 (706)542-4756 Jacek Siry, Research Editor Sara Baldwin, Robert Simmons & Jonathan Smith, Editors Staff: Peyton Ellis, Harrison Hood, Russell McCarty, Joseph Morris, Stephen Smith, Tim Smith, and Caleb Warnock Mailing address: Timber Mart-South, 1860 Barnett Shoals Road, PMB 103-598, Athens, GA 30605. Phone: (706)542-4756 Fax: (706)542-1670 E-mail: tmart@uga.edu Web site: www.TimberMart-South.com Copyright 2012:
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ISSN 1945-4082 The University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources is under contract with the Frank W. Norris Foundation to compile and publish the TMS Market News.
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Table of Contents
Prices & Market Conditions ....................................................................................................4 Market Indicators ....................................................................................................................5 Lumber & Panel Indicators, US Building Construction, Pulp & Paper Indicators, Energy & Carbon Markets, Equity Markets, Manufacturing Activity Timberland Transactions .......................................................................................................10 Plum Creek Timber, Molpus Woodlands, Other Transaction Details, Outside the South Top Timberland Owners in 2011 ..........................................................................................14 Timberland Proffered 1st Quarter 2012..................................................................................15 Chinas Housing Policy Changes Will Drive Demand in 2012-15..........................................17 Top US Softwood Lumber Producers 2011............................................................................18 Openings & Closings .............................................................................................................18 Pulp & Paper, Wood Products: Sawmills, OSB & Panels , Other Biofuel & Bio-Energy.............................................................................................................21 Projects in the South, BCAP Returns, Biomass Harvesting, Carbon Cycle 101 Restructuring .........................................................................................................................25 IP & Temple-Inland, Great Southern, Resolute & Fibrek, Sino-Forest, Other Changes Other News ...........................................................................................................................30 Hardwood Promotion, Recovery & New Disasters, US-Canada SLA, Design Values for SYP, Policy Issues, USDA GAIN Reports, USDA Forest Service News & Publications Weather Etc...........................................................................................................................35
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Chip-n-saw
Pulpwood
$30 $25 $20 $/ton $15 $10 $5 $0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Tim ber Mart-South
year ago
4Q 11 up/(dn) 1Q 11 up/(dn)
$23.54 $14.26 $8.20 $22.02 $6.41 +$0.61 +$0.65 +$0.36 -$0.70 +0.54 $25.94 $15.52 $8.71 $21.20 $7.37 -$1.79 -$0.61 -$0.15 +$0.12 -$0.42
Pulpwood
Stumpage prices for all three major pine products were lower than a year ago, disappointing those who had hoped for a strong Spring Rally. Hardwood Stumpage Prices Mixed hardwood sawtimber, the only major product to decrease this quarter, changed little and prices remained higher than pine chip-n-saw, a premium held since mid-2007. The average hardwood pulpwood stumpage price increased for the first time in two years as precipitation returned to areas of the South where drought had previously prevailed.
Pine Stumpage Prices The average pine sawtimber stumpage price increased this quarter. Chip-n-saw turned upward following seven straight quarters of declining prices1. South-wide average stumpage prices for pine pulpwood increased quarter-over-quarter but only a few cents per ton.
Prices had jumped for most timber products in the 1st Quarter of 2010 on low inventories and unanticipated extremely wet weather.
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Market Indicators
Positive indications emerged this quarter, but could be only temporary. Mixed messages exist in the overall economy, with interest rates at exceptionally low levels while fuel costs are rising. By March, both paper and wood products manufacturing sectors reported growth. Softwood lumber and panel prices had a Spring Rally that, though not so great as the surge two years ago, appeared to give evidence of stronger markets. In March, hardwood lumber and pulp prices lost their downward momentum and eased upward. Some analysts pointed to the warm winter and early spring, suggesting that accelerated projects instead of sustained demand were responsible for the growth. Housing starts and remodeling expenditures both showed promising increases this quarter while paper and paperboard manufacturing slowed slightly.
year ago. Southern pine 2x4 lumber prices increased about 22 percent this quarter, in line with the SPC trend and 2x10 lumber prices increased about 25 percent for the quarter. Both were up more than 10 percent year-over-year. The Structural Panel Composite price ended March at $342 per thousand square feet, 3/8 inch basis (msf), up about 12 percent over last quarter as well as March of last year.
Random Lengths Structural Panel Composite $/msf 30-Mar-12 342 30-Dec-11 305 % +/12.1% 25-Mar-11 304 % +/12.5%
Southern pine plywood prices and Oriented Strand Board (OSB) prices generally followed the structural panel composite, up for the quarter and year-over-year. The Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) reported that southern pine lumber production was 13.47 billion board feet (bbf) for 2011, a 9 percent increase over 2010. Production was about 70 percent of 2006 levels.
Southern Pine Lumber Production billion bf, ytd 2011 13.47 2010 12.35 % +/9.0% 2006 18.57 % +/-27.5%
SFPA Annual Southern Pine Lumber Production (bbf) 20 15 10 5 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
$480 $370 $260 $150 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
While not surging as high as in the 1st Quarter 2010, prices ended the quarter above those of a Page 5
January 2012 shipments, the latest available, continued the upward trend and were about 10 percent above shipments in January 2011. For more details on mill activity this quarter, see Openings & Closings on page 18. 1st Quarter 2012
According to the latest report from the APA Engineered Wood Association, combined southern panel production declined in 2011, to 13.8 billion square feet, down about 2 percent from 2010. OSB production in 2011 was down 4 percent compared with 2010. Plywood production was up slightly. Both were less than 70 percent of 2006 production and about 74 percent of 2001 production.
Southern OSB Production billion sf 2011 7.99 2011 5.81 2010 8.30 2010 5.73 % +/-3.8% % +/1.4% 2006 11.21 2006 9.31 % +/-28.7% % +/-37.5%
APA Engineered Wood Association US Southern Panel Production (Annual billion sf, 3/8" basis) 24 16 8 0 2001 2003 2005 S. Plywood 2007 2009 2011 S. OSB
US Building Construction
According to the US Census, housing starts increased slightly in 2011 over 2010. Total starts nation-wide for 2011 were 607,000, up 3 percent from 587,000 in 2010. Starts in 2011 were about 34 percent of starts in 2006 and less than 40 percent of starts in 2001. The US South followed the same general trend.
US Residential Housing Starts, 000 units 2011 607 2011 307 2010 587 2010 298 % +/3.4% % +/2.9% 2006 1801 2006 910 % +/-66.3% % +/-66.3%
The Hardwood Review US Kiln Dried Hardwood Lumber Index ended its eighteen month decline this quarter at $1,077 per thousand board feet (mbf) for the end of the March. Prices were up from the end of December but still lower than prices a year ago.
Hardwood Lumber Price Kiln dried Index $/mbf 30-Mar-12 1077 30-Dec-11 1055 % +/2.1% 25-Mar-11 1103 % +/-2.4%
$1,500 $1,300 $1,100 $900 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
Total US privately-owned housing starts surged this quarter, with starts at 95,000 units through February 2012, more than 30 percent above starts 1st Quarter 2012
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in the same period of 2010. Analysts attributed the increase, in part, to mild winter weather. However, economic conditions have improved and the inventory of existing housing has decreased. Housing starts for 2012, if they follow this trend, would be about 798,000, still only about half the units started in 2001. http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf Residential remodeling activity in 2011 increased slightly over 2010 according to the US Census. Expenditures were about $115 billion, up nearly $3 billion from 2010 but still down more than $30 billion from 2006. Expenditures on remodeling in 2011 were nearly $30 billion more than in 2001.
US Improvement Expenditures (Billion $) 2011 114.6 2010 111.6 % +/2.8% 2006 144.9 % +/-20.9%
Mortgage rates continue near record lows. The March average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 3.95 percent according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac), nearly unchanged from December 2011 but well below March 2011.
30-year Fixed US Mortgage Rates (percent) Mar-12 3.95 Dec-11 3.96 +/-0.01 Mar-11 4.84 +/-0.89
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
US Census Bureau Residential Improvements (Billion US$ annually) $180 $120 $60 $0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) continued its accommodative position, committing to maintain the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent again this quarter and possibly through 2014. The FOMC continues a policy begun last September to extend the average maturity of its holding, buying longer term US Treasury bonds with proceeds from shorter term bonds.
Expenditures year-to-date through February 2012 were $14.5 billion, up slightly from early 2011 but still more than $3 billion below the same period in 2006. If continued at the same rate, expenditures in 2012 would be about $117 billion. http://www.census.gov/const/www/c30index.html The Harvard University Leading Indicator for Remodeling Activity (LIRA) predicts decreased activity in early 2012 followed by a recovery later in 2012. http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/media/lira/ Mortgage activity was subdued this quarter according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) with refinance activity remaining low. Page 7
US wood-based pulp production more or less tracks paper and paperboard production trends. TMS estimates 2011 production at about 53.3 million tons. The US South produces about 60 percent of US wood pulp.
AF&PA Pulp Production million tons (2011 TMS est.) 2011 53.3 2010 54.2 % +/-1.7% 2006 58.7 % +/-9.1%
Recovered corrugated container prices increased this quarter according to Official Board Markets. The Old Corrugated Container (OCC) monthly average price in the South was $130 per ton in March, up $25 per ton from December but still about $5 per ton lower than a year ago.
Old Corrugated Containers - US South in $/ton Mar-12 130 Dec-11 105 % +/23.8% Mar-11 135 % +/-3.7%
70 60 50 40
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
Official Board Markets U.S. Southern OCC Prices ($/ton) $200 $150 $100 $50 $0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Softwood pulp prices ceased their decline this quarter. The FOEX Ltd. Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp price index ended March at $844 per ton, up slightly from the end of December, although down more than $130 per ton from the same period in 2011. Bleached hardwood kraft pulp prices, at $753 per ton increased more than 15 percent for the quarter and were less than $100 per ton lower than a year ago.
FOEX NBSK Index $/ton 27-Mar-12 844 27-Mar-12 753 27-Dec-11 834 27-Dec-11 652 % +/1.2% % +/15.5% 29-Mar-11 977 29-Mar-11 849 % +/-13.6% % +/-11.4%
$5.50
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$4.00 $2.50 $1.00 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/psw 18vwall.xls
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Crude Oil prices were up this quarter, with higher prices attributed to sanctions the US and its allies have placed on Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC). Spot prices for West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) were at $104 per barrel at the end of March, up slightly from the $102 per barrel February average.
W Texas Int Crude Oil ($/ barrel) Feb-12 102 Nov-11 97 % +/5.2% Feb-11 89 % +/15.4%
Equity Markets
Stock markets surged this quarter, beginning to challenge peak levels of 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended March at 13,212, up nearly 1,000 points or about 8 percent from the end of December.
Dow Jones Industrial Average 30-Mar-12 13,212 30-Dec-11 12,218 % +/8.1% 31-Mar-11 12,320 % +/7.2%
Crude Oil - W Texas Int Spot Price Monthly ($/ barrel) US EIA
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/xls/PET_PRI_S PT_S1_M.xls Prices for carbon credits continued at the low levels set last November. At 6.93 per ton (about $9.24 per ton) prices are less than half of those a year ago. The drop was partly due to a mild winter in Europe and an increased supply of credits. Critics blame European Union policy for undermining the program. http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/ Nine Northeast US states have capped CO2 emissions and carbon allowances for those states brought $1.93 per ton at the quarterly auction in March. http://www.rggi.org/home
The S&P 500 ended March up 12 percent from December at 1,408 and the NASDAQ Composite ended March up nearly 19 percent for the quarter at 3,092.
Manufacturing Activity
Manufacturing activity grew again this quarter, expanding for 32 consecutive months since August 2009. The Institute for Supply Managements Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which aggregates activity in US manufacturing, was 53.4 in March, about average for the past 12 months but below the 61.2 rate in March 2011. A PMI above 50 indicates economic expansion, and a lesser value indicates contraction. Paper & Paperboard Products reported growth for all three months this quarter. Wood Products reported contraction in both January and February but showed growth in March. http://www.ism.ws/index.cfm
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Timberland Transactions
At press time, there had been no ordinary timberland sales reported in the 1st Quarter that included price information. Two large transactions occurred this quarter but one was Plum Creek Timbers timber deed acquisition, on the equivalent of about 50,000 acres, and the other was Molpus Woodlands Groups acquisition of about 42,000 acres for which price and seller were not provided. To see how much timberland was on the market in the South and at what price, see Timberland Proffered 1st Quarter 2012 on page 15. Timberland Sales Summary for 2011 Due to transactions announced this quarter that occurred in 2011, TMS revised US transactions in 2011 upward to 2.3 million acres, at an average of $822 per acre. Transactions in the South in 2011 were 702,000 acres at an average price of $1,393 per acre. The table below shows historical values since 2001.
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The properties are located in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. The timber is composed of standing mature and nearly-mature plantation timber, ranging in age from 24 to 32 years. The purchase does not include any hardwood volume. The company estimates that with biological growth, this timber will produce between 700,000 and 800,000 tons of annual harvest over the duration of the eight year lease. Plum Creeks conference call with analysts included a discussion about why the company purchased a timber deed and not the dirt. The deal was negotiated, not bid, and purchase of the underlying land not considered. Chief executive officer Rick Holley said that the company perceived an opportunity to buy a very attractive timber asset in a market which is priced low today. The company expects that those prices will increase over the next eight years.
disclosed. Including this transaction, Molpus has about 900,000 acres under management in fifteen states.
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In March, funds managed by New Forests including ANZFF, also acquired a controlling interest in 46,000 hectares (114,000 acres) of the former Auspine forest estate from Gunns Ltd of Tasmania for an undisclosed price. The timberland is mostly radiata pine plantation forest in the Green Triangle region of Australia. Gunns retained an equity interest in the new ownership structure equivalent to the value of the underlying land assets, reportedly AU$120 million (US$ 124 million or $1,090 per acre). The properties will continue to supply local mills that process domestic structural timbers through long-term agreements. Including these transactions, New Forests will manage approximately 375,000 hectares (927,000 acres). Gunns announced its intent to sell its interest separately to other investors. Plum Creek Timber completed the sale of 18,000 acres in western Oregon for $60 million (approximately $3,300 per acre) to an undisclosed buyer in the 4th Quarter of 2011. The company said the sale represented about 4 percent of its holdings in that state. These particular lands generally have a lower value species mix than the rest of Plum Creeks Oregon portfolio.
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Acres (Millions) 2000 11.7 7.9 5.9 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.5 38.7
REIT or C-Corp Plum Creek Timber (REIT) Weyerhaeuser (REIT Rayonier (REIT) Sierra Pacific Industries Potlatch (REIT) JD Irving Green Diamond MeadWestvaco JM Huber Roseburg Forest Products Total
End of 2011
Acres (Millions) 2010 6.6 5.4 2.3 1.8 1.4 1.3 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 21.7
down more than a million acres from 22.0 million acres in 2010. The Forestland Group remained at the top rank this year, with The Campbell Group and Hancock Timber Resources Group close behind. RMK Timberland rose in the ranks from #10 to #7 on net acquisitions while GMO Renewable Resources dropped back to #10, mostly due to the one million acre sale to Malone/BBC Land early last year. Molpus Woodlands Group Top Ten Timberland Investment Managers 2011
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Company The Forestland Group The Campbell Group Hancock Timber Resource Management Service Forest Investment Associates Forest Capital Partners RMK Timberland Wagner Forest Management* Seven Islands/Orion Timberland* GMO Renewable Resources Total * A management group but not a TIMO. Acres Millions 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.6 2.0 1.9 1.7 1.3 1.2 1.0 20.8
divestitures were less visible, but Molpus reduced its acres under management to about 840,000 acres, close to its holdings in 2009. This year TMS included Seven Islands/Orion Timberlands, which has managed a number of large holdings in Maine for years. Without Orion in the list, Brookfield Asset Management would have been #10 with its 960,000 acres under management. Together with Wagner Forest Management, Brookfield and Orion are not considered classic TIMOs because they manage timberland assets in different corporate structures.
Quarter 2Q 11 3Q 11 4Q 11 1Q 12
A total of 506,240 available acres fell within the constraints of our survey this quarter, down 12 percent from the 577,000 acres proffered in the 2nd Quarter of 2011, but up 9 percent from last quarter. The average, proffered price-per-acre was $1,980 per acre, a drop of $50 per acre since the 2nd Quarter of 2011. The average price-per-acre increased $55 per acre since last quarter.
South-wide Tract Size (Acres) 1st Quarter 2012
60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 100-200 201-500 501-1,000 > 1,000
Approximately 50 percent of the properties proffered this quarter were smaller than 200 acres in size, and 82 percent of the properties were smaller than 500 acres. Timberland tracts exceeding 1,000 acres accounted for only 7 percent of the proffers, but they accounted for nearly 43 percent of the acreage on the market. These numbers have all remained relatively unchanged since the initiation of the survey.
proffer The word proffer is derived from AngloFrench por-, forth, and offrir, to offer. The act of proffering involves making an offer prior to any formal negotiations. Synonyms include offer, tender and present. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/proffer Page 15 Timber Mart-South ~ Market News Quarterly 1st Quarter 2012
The number of large tracts (1,000 acres) proffered in the South dropped from 110 in the 2nd Quarter 2011 to 88 in the 1st Quarter of 2012. These larger tracts accounted for 218,726 of the 506,240 available acres this quarter and had a total proffer value of $379 million. Since last quarter, the number of acres proffered has increased by 35,926 acres. The geographical distribution of proffered timberland remained similar to past quarters: Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi again had the largest number of timberland proffers. Florida, North Carolina (replacing Louisiana), and Virginia had the fewest number of listings. The weightedaverage price-per-acre in Texas increased to $2,350 per acre since last quarter and maintained the lead as the highest in the South. South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia continued to follow closely behind Texas in highest price-peracre rankings. Arkansas replaced North Carolina as having the lowest average price-per-acre proffers in the South, at $1,335 per acre.
As for pricing, the majority (approximately 61 percent) of the properties in our survey were proffered at prices between $1,501 and $2,500 per acre. This distribution has also remained relatively unchanged since our first survey in the 2nd Quarter of 2011. Tract size, again this quarter, appeared to have a minimal affect on proffered price-per-acre, but tracts with fewer than 1,000 acres were generally proffered at a slightly higher price-per-acre than larger tracts. The average 1st Quarter price-peracre of tracts 1,000 acres was $1,770, down 11 percent from the 2nd Quarter of 2011, and the average price per acre of tracts between 100 and 999 acres was $2,000, down 3 percent from the 2nd Quarter of 2011.
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housing starts. Such a plan is unheard of in the free-market Western world where falling house prices would normally indicate supply exceeding demand. The new housing policy directives, implemented gradually during 2010 and 2011, began to have a noticeable impact in the third and fourth quarters of 2011. Price growth has been slowing (Figures 1 and 2). Directives included: Restrictions on the purchase of multiple homes by one individual; A requirement for larger down-payments; A reduction in access to bank lending by developers; Limited opportunities for speculators to flip properties; Encouragement of city property taxes. Chinese directives in recent years also included an increase in the construction of governmentfinanced low-cost housing. In 2010, the Chinese government introduced its five-year plan to build 36 million affordable houses in China between 2011 and 2015. The policy objective is to build a large number of smaller and less expensive new houses (apartments) that can be afforded by the average Chinese household. The government also wants to discourage the overbuilding (seen in the last few years) of higherend apartments by the private sector. The price declines that began in the 4th Quarter of 2011 should persist until house prices have corrected (by an estimated 15-20 percent) in 2012. Industry experts say the governments policies have already led to real estate speculators in Beijing becoming nearly extinct. According to International WOOD MARKETS GROUP, official government targets for housing starts for the next four years remain very bullish. The construction industry will receive a massive boost. By 2013, as the number of governmentfinanced units begins to decline, private investment in the housing industry is projected to
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recover and carry a growing share of total forecast housing starts. The beginning of 2012 has seen a return of Chinese demand for West Coast logs and lumber. This may be a sign that Chinas central government can successfully engineer its ambitious economic targets. If it does, the outlook for new housing starts, and therefore wood consumption, looks very optimistic indeed for the next four years. For projected Chinese housing starts and expected further changes in Chinese government policy, see the full article, reprinted here in part by permission from WOOD MARKETS Monthly International Report, Vol. 17 No.1 February 2012.
edged out by Hampton Affiliates in 2010. More than half of the mills operated by the top five producers are in the South. Weyerhaeuser, West Fraser and Georgia-Pacific remain the Souths top producers. Canadian lumber production increased to 22.5 billion board feet in 2011, up about 2.5 percent over 2010. West Fraser and Canfor remain the top lumber-producing companies in Canada. When ranked for total North American production, West Fraser is first with 4.9 bbf, followed by Weyerhaeuser and Canfor with about 3.5 bbf each. Information is based on Vol. 17 No.2 March 2012 issue of WOOD MARKETS Monthly International Report and reprinted by permission.
Total Top 5 as % US 31% 30% Total Top 20 as % US 56% 55% Note: Includes lumber produced only at primary sawmills and excludes all Canadian and offshore production
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company is seeking the best alternative use for the site. Pulp & Paper Outside the South Companhia Brasileira de Celulose (Braxcel) plans to build a 1.6 million ton per year bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEKP) mill in Peixe, in southern Tocantins, Brazil. Grupo GMR, Braxcels parent company based in Madrid, estimates the project will require approximately 180,000 hectares (about 440,000 acres) of planted eucalyptus forest, of which the company currently has more than 100,000 hectares of land in the region. The mill is scheduled to start up at the end of 2018. Kimberly-Clark (K-C) plans to permanently close its Everett, Washington, pulp and tissue mill in mid-April. The company has already ceased pulp production at the facility, and K-C will no longer make any of the pulp it uses. The Everett mill had annual wood pulp capacity of 173,000 tons. The companys only other pulp mill in Tantanoola, South Australia, which had 70,000 tons of annual capacity, shut down last year. Plans to sell the Everett mill to Atlas Holdings LLC broke down in late 2011 allegedly due to cleanup requirements of an adjacent waterway. The mill was built in 1931 by Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Co. and was purchased by Scott Paper in 1951. K-C acquired the mill in its 1995 merger with Scott. K-C plans to demolish the facility; however, city and state officials are exploring options to keep the site productive. The mill employed about 750 people.
For more on lumber prices and production levels, see Lumber and Panel Indicators on page 5. Armstrong World Industries, a major hardwood flooring manufacturer, announced in March that it would add a third shift and hire about 95 people to increase production at the companys hardwood flooring plant in Jackson TN (TMS TN2). American Woodmark, a major cabinetry manufacturer, announced in January that it would close two facilities and sell another due to poor market conditions. The facilities are in Kentucky, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The company operates facilities in eight states including Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Hankins Lumber shut down its 120 mmbf per year capacity southern yellow pine sawmill in Elliott MS (TMS MS1) in January until market conditions improve. The shutdown affected about 150 employees. Linden Lumber temporarily shut down its hardwood sawmill in Linden AL (TMS AL2) due to a fire on February 10th. The cause of the fire, believed to have started in the mills hydraulic room, is still under investigation. There were no injuries.
Potomac Supply, which shut down its sawmill in Kinsale VA (TMS VA2) at the end of 2011, also temporarily shut down other operations at the facility. By March, the company had restarted landscape timber production as well as pallet manufacturing and wood treatment. Westervelt received a $1.4 million loan from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to help install energy-saving upgrades to the company headquarters in Tuscaloosa and its 280 mmbf per year sawmill facility at Moundville AL (TMS AL1). Weyerhaeuser temporarily shut down its 260 mmbf per year capacity sawmill in Plymouth NC (TMS NC2) due to a fire on Tuesday February 14th. There were no reported injuries and the mill partially restarted the next day. However, full operations did not resume for several days. The cause of the fire, thought to have started in the planer, is still under investigation.
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for export to Japan, and the first plant to go into production will be the companys Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan OSB mill in Canada. JAS panel dimensions differ from North American standards and according to press reports the mill will use a proprietary formulation to meet strength, stiffness, and formaldehyde emission criteria.
US biomass transportation fuels projects still face the technical challenge of taking laboratory success to commercial scale. Power generation utilities claim that without policy incentives, biomass remains uncompetitive with other fuel options. Meanwhile uncertainty remains about implementation of greenhouse gas regulations for industrial boilers. These are not new issues. Oglethorpe Energy switched from biomass to natural gas when the company cancelled three proposed biomass plants in February 2011. The Southern Company put the biomass fuel conversion of its Plant Mitchell on hold in the early 2010 until the boiler emission rules were clarified.
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There was one startup, a cogeneration project at the Savannah River Site. There were three shut downs due to facility fires. Two projects have new owners and one has a new name. Wood Fuel Pellets/Briquettes In January, fire temporarily shut down production at Enviva Pellets in Wiggins MS (TMS MS2). There were no injuries and only minor damage. The fire reportedly began from a spark during work on a piece of equipment and spread to a storage silo. The Wiggins facility has annual fuel wood pellet capacity of 150,000 tons after an expansion completed since Envivas acquisition in October 2010. In March, Enviva announced a multi-year, 265,000 ton per year fuel wood pellet supply agreement with E.ON, a large European utility. The contract begins in early 2013 and Enviva plans to supply the wood pellets from its facilities in the South. German Pellets Texas LLC plans to build a 550,000 ton per year fuel wood pellet plant at a former chip mill in Woodville, Texas (TMS TX2), with startup planned for early 2013. Local authorities have approved tax abatements and air quality permits for the facility. LowCountry Biomass, announced in March that it plans to expand capacity at its recently-acquired Champion Wood Pellets facility in Ridgeland SC (TMS SC2). The $16 million investment will expand production at a facility which makes fuel wood pellets as well as equine bedding. Target production capacity is 220,000 tons per year and
the project is expected to generate 26 new jobs. Champion began operations at the site in 3rd Quarter 2010, shipping product to Europe as well as bagging for local consumption, but with no stated target capacity. Natures Earth experienced a silo fire at its Laurinburg NC (TMS NC2) wood pellet plant in early March. There were no injuries; however, the plant has been shut down until the silo can be emptied and cleaned. The plant produces wood pellets used for horse bedding, kitty litter and biofuel. According to press reports when the plant started up in late 2009, design capacity for the plant was 120,000 tons per year. Vega Biofuels of Norcross GA announced plans to build a bio-coal manufacturing plant in Cordele GA (TMS GA2) using timber waste in a torrefaction process. Vega has leased a facility in Cordele adjacent to the new Cordele Inland Port which provides direct rail access to the Port of Savannah. Startup is scheduled for the 1st Quarter of 2013 with unspecified production targeted for European markets. Power generators can process bio-coal briquettes through the existing fossil coal handling systems without modification. Zilkha Biomass announced plans for the closed, former Dixie Pellets plant in Selma AL (TMS AL1) that it purchased at auction in May 2010. The company plans to convert the Selma plant to manufacture black wood fuel pellets such as the company currently produces at its Crockett TX (TMS TX2) plant that opened last year. Target production is about 300,000 tons per year. Dixie
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Pellets manufactured white pellets and had a target capacity of 500,000 tons. Zilkha plans to start up production in late 2013. Cogeneration/Bio-energy Ameresco and the US Department of Energy (DOE) held a ceremonial ribbon cutting on March 12th to mark the successful startup of the new Biomass Cogeneration Facility in Aiken SC (TMS SC2) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The plant has replaced an aged coal powerhouse and oil-fired boilers at SRS, and will generate 10 Megawatts of power initially, ramping up to 20-Megawatts at full production. The plant will use about 385,000 tons of wood furnish per year. Dominion Virginia Power received state approval in March for plans to convert three coal-fired power plants to biomass fuel: Altavista, Hopewell, and Southampton County (TMS VA2). The power stations will generate about 50 Megawatts of electricity each, using primarily waste wood from timber operations. The company also received permission to charge its customers to cover the estimated $165.8 million cost to adapt the plants. Green Energy Partners LLC received a commitment for a bond issue from Georgias
DeKalb County Development Authority to help finance its proposed $60 million 10 Megawatt wood-fueled biomass energy plant in Lithonia GA (TMS GA1). However, the future of the project remains uncertain. The project was put on hold in mid-2011 when the Georgia Environmental Protection Division highlighted deficiencies in Green Energys application to construct and operate the plant. In addition, a group of residents has sued the county for approving the plant. Construction at Southern Companys biomassfueled power plant in Sacul TX (TMS TX2) temporarily ceased at the end of January when an explosion severely injured two workers, employees of Fagen, Inc., the construction contractor. Fagen closed the site to investigate the electrical-related accident and brief fire. The plant received its first load of fuel in November and was scheduled for startup in mid-2012. Biorefineries Buckeye Technologies Inc. and the University of Floridas Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences marked the official startup of the Stan Mayfield Biorefinery Pilot Plant in Perry FL (TMS FL2) on January 9th. When fully operational, the
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biorefinery will produce up to 400 gallons per day of fuel ethanol and 5,000 pounds per day of organic acids for bioplastics. The researchers goals include testing a wide variety of feedstocks, such as crop residues and yard waste to find ways to save money on production costs. KiOR, Inc. announced in January that it has new funding: a $75 million four-year term loan with a lender group comprised of an affiliate of Vinod Khosla and two Canadian corporations owned by pension fund clients of Alberta Investment Management Corporation. KiOR also said it is on time and on budget with its first facility under construction in Columbus MS (TMS MS1) and scheduled for start up in the second half of 2012. KiOR also announced it would locate its second Mississippi facility in Natchez instead of Newton (both in TMS MS2) as originally planned due to better logistical, infrastructure and tax incentives. The company expects to begin construction on the second plant after the first plant is completed, with startup scheduled for 2014. LanzaTech, based in Chicago, purchased the idle Range Fuels facility in Soperton GA (TMS GA2) at auction in January for $5.1 million and announced plans to produce ethanol and other chemicals at the plant using woodchips. The company plans to take about six months to evaluate how existing equipment at the site, renamed the Freedom Pines Biorefinery, can be integrated with LanzaTech technology.
Virdia, Inc., formerly known as HCL Cleantech, announced in March that it has a $75 million loan and $155 million in tax incentives from the state of Mississippi for its planned commercial plant to convert wood into sugars for transportation fuel production, nutritional products and specialty chemicals. Even though the company has not yet selected a site, it expects to begin production in 2014. Virdia also said it received $20 million in venture capital from Khosla Ventures, Burrill & Co. and Tamar Ventures to fund engineering work for the plant, as well as $10 million in debt from TriplePoint Capital LLC. Virdia together with Virent, Inc. based in Madison, Wisconsin, also announced the successful conversion of cellulosic pine tree sugars to hydrocarbon fuels by the BIRD Energy project, a joint program funded by the US Department of Energy, the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure and the BIRD Foundation. Virent used Virdias biomass-derived sugars to produce gasoline and jet fuel, the latter passing rigorous tests by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) analysis.
Other News
Outside the US, changing national policies affected plans for one biomass-fueled facility and another plant shut down due to fire in its wood pellet storage.
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Uncertainty regarding UK subsidies for biomass power caused Drax Power to cancel plans for a separate 290 Megawatt wood biomass fueled electrical station in North Yorkshire, England. The Ouse plant would have provided a market for about 3 million green tons of biomass annually, mostly fuel wood pellets. The company still plans to expand biomass co-firing at its existing coalfueled Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. In February, RWE experienced a fire in the pellet storage area at its 750 Megawatt power plant in Tilbury, England. The plant had switched from using coal-fired generation to wood pellets fuel in January. While the company said turbines were not damaged, the plant may not be fully operational until July. Cause of the fire is not known. BCAP Returns Again On March 22nd the US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) released FY2012 guidelines for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. Applications are due April 23rd. Financial incentives are available for biomass production and crop establishment; however, funds are limited. Compared to FY2010 and FY 2011, when funding was $552 million and $112 million respectively, funds for FY2012 are $17 million. For more information, contact the FSA office that serves the proposed location. Biomass Harvesting & Supply in the South The Forest Guild (FG) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has released two sets of biomass harvesting guidelines: one last year for the Northeast US and the other in March for the Southeast US. The authors intend the guidelines to fill a perceived gap between state-level biomass guidelines and existing best management practices. Some of the recommendations promote the value of leaving harvesting waste and non-merchantable trees un-harvested to benefit wildlife. http://www.forestguild.org/publications/research/20 12/FG_Biomass_Guidelines_SE.pdf
FG also released a separate report this year, Biomass Supply and Carbon Accounting for Southeastern Forests, which examines resource availability together with biomass energy technology in the South. The report suggests that meeting 20 percent of a 15 percent renewable electricity standard with woody biomass would be possible in the Southeast region; however, meeting 30 percent might strain supply. For carbon accounting, this report assumes that available forest resources not used for energy would likely be used in other products and uses a comparative approach on different technologies for effects of NO2 and CO2 emissions. The report also estimates the efficiency of the same technologies for electrical and thermal generation. http://www.biomasscenter.org/images/stories/SE_C arbon_Study_FINAL_2-6-12.pdf The Carbon Cycle & Forest Carbon Debate Dovetail Partners of Minneapolis MN published Carbon 101 this quarter, an overview of carbon use by forests and forest use for products. A forest can be harvested for forest products and still sequester carbon. The bottom line is that growth in excess of removals over the long term is no more sustainable than when removals exceed growth. The report concludes that while it is critical that management be conducted responsibly and sustainably, choosing not to manage has its own potentially negative consequences. http://www.dovetailinc.org/reportsview/2012/respo nsible-materials/pjim-bowyerp/carbon-101
Restructuring
The IP and Temple-Inland deal closed this quarter and is expected to generate related transactions before year end. Two contentious deals remained unsettled at press time: Resolutes bid for Fibrek (in competition with Mercer) and Sino-Forests reorganization plans.
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IP Acquires Temple-Inland
In early February, International Paper and TempleInland reached an agreement with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) with respect to IPs acquisition of Temple-Inland. The DOJ approval allowed the deal to proceed and on February 13th IP announced the deal was complete. Temple-Inland became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. The total transaction value is approximately $4.5 billion, including the assumption of about $700 million in Temple-Inland net debt. In accord with the DOJ approval, the combined company will sell 970,000 tons of containerboard mill capacity within four months of deal closure, with the possibility of two 30-day extensions. Even with these sales, IP will still operate about one third of North American containerboard capacity. The facilities to be divested include TempleInlands Ontario, California, mill that uses recycled furnish and its New Johnsonville, Tennessee, mill that uses both wood and recycled furnish. IP also plans to sell its Hueneme, California, mill which uses recycled furnish. According to press reports,
IP has reported strong expressions of interest for these mill assets as well as Temple-Inlands Building Products business. Separately, IP closed its previously announced agreement with Atlas Holdings to combine their consumer-packaging solutions businesses, AGI World and Shorewood Packaging, to become AGIShorewood.
Track sawlog, pulpwood and biomass markets in the US and Canada! - Subscribe to the
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note holders would acquire substantially all of the assets of the company. In the same announcement, Sino-Forest said that it has commenced a court action against Muddy Waters, Carson Block, and others, relating to allegations made against the company prior to and following the public release on June 2nd 2011 of a report prepared by Muddy Waters. The action seeks damages in the amount of $4 billion and the recovery of profits made by Muddy Waters and others in connection with the Muddy Waters report alleging glaring inconsistencies in SinoForest statements about its asset. Sino-Forest, considered Chinas largest private forestry company, has reportedly close ties to the Chinese government. Such close relationships may complicate the sale of assets in China where ownership rights are limited. Restructuring, too, could prove complicated with Chinese government involvement. Not all holdings are in China. SinoForest subsidiary Greenheart owns timberland in New Zealand and Suriname.
Other Changes
Buckeye Technologies Inc. announced its agreement to sell the assets and ongoing operations of its Merfin Systems business to National Tissue Company, LLC of Cudahy, Wisconsin. Merfin, located in King, North Carolina, converts towels, tissue and napkins which it sells along with proprietary paper product dispensers in the awayfrom-home market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Catalyst Papers of Richmond, British Columbia, announced in January that the company had applied for and received an initial court order under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) to commence a restructuring process with its note holders. At the end of January, the company also obtained an initial order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Catalyst also filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the US, to ensure that its assets in the US are protected while it attempts to restructure under 1st Quarter 2012
Canadian law. The company will continue to operate and satisfy its obligations to trade creditors, customers, employees and retirees in the ordinary course of business during this restructuring process. Catalyst manufactures specialty printing papers, newsprint and pulp. CFP Components, a division of Columbia Forest Products, acquired Cabinotch, a company that has developed an innovative system for assembling face-framed cabinet boxes. The system will allow CFP to deliver a set of custom-sized American Hardwood parts, helping cabinet shops reduce costs and improve productivity. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Domtar Corporation announced an agreement to sell its Lebel-sur-Quvillon, Quebec, assets to Fortress Global Cellulose Ltd, and with 91093294 Quebec Inc., a subsidiary of the Government of Qubec. All pulp and sawmilling assets, including the buildings and equipment, will be sold to Fortress for the nominal sum of $1.00 and all lands related to the facilities will be sold to a subsidiary of the Government of Qubec for the nominal sum of $1.00. The pulp mill ceased operations in November 2005 due to unfavorable economic conditions. Sawmilling operations at the
facility ceased in 2006. Fortress intends to invest approximately $222 million to convert the idle northern bleached softwood kraft pulp mill into a low cost, high quality dissolving pulp (DP) mill. Proposed annual capacity will be of approximately 236,000 air dried metric tons (ADMT). Fortress also plans to increase the capacity of the cogeneration facility at the site from 30 to 50 Megawatts. Startup is planned for late 2013. The parties expect the transaction to close in the 2nd Quarter of 2012. Georgia-Pacific accepted a binding offer from Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) for G-Ps European tissue operations. G-P also announced that it had completed the sale of its Italian operations to Cartiera Lucchese (Lucart Group) based in Lucca, Italy. The sale includes G-Ps mills located at Castelnuovo and Avigliano, the Italian brands Tutto and Tenderly, related assets and administrative support. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Graphic Packaging International, Inc. (GPI) announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Marietta to Sandy Springs, Georgia, in January 2013. The new headquarters will enable GPI to consolidate its existing four-
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building campus into a single location. The companys executive team, corporate staff, North American operational headquarters, Product Development Center, and Global Innovation Center will all relocate to the new complex. On March 13th MeadWestvaco held the official opening of its state-of-the art pilot plant and Center for Packaging Innovation (CPI) located near Richmond, Virginia. In 2010, the company announced plans to move the facility from Raleigh NC to the companys global headquarters in Richmond. Since then, MeadWestvaco has invested more than $13 million in infrastructure and equipment, creating 114 new jobs in the area. The pilot plant has five labs (Materials and Metallurgy Engineering, TAPPI Conditioned Materials Testing, Polymers and Packaging, Paper Science, and Coating). Close proximity to additional science and design labs and other CPI experts housed within company headquarters enables the plant and its employees to better collaborate with colleagues, customers and suppliers. Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) announced several transactions this quarter. SCA completed its joint venture with Pacific Equity Partners of Sidney, Australia, through the sale of 50 percent of SCA operations in Australia. SCA also announced the sale of its packaging operations to DS Smith of the UK for EUR 1.7 billion (US$2.2 billion) on a debt free basis. The operations have approximately 12,000 employees. SCA plans to focus on growth in its hygiene business, supported by its acquisition of G-Ps tissue business (see item above.)The sale to DS Smith excludes SCAs two kraftliner mills in Sweden as they are integrated with the companys forest products operations. In March, SCA announced its acquisition of PLF, a distributor of timber products to the builders merchants sector throughout France. PLF also conducts timberprocessing activities, including coating and surface treatment of timber products for interior and exterior use. PLF employs 70 people. Hood Industries of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, expanded its custom milling operations this quarter Page 29
with the acquisition of a facility in Ayer, Massachusetts. Hood operates two plywood and three lumber mills in the South. The companys Hood Distribution division has 18 specialty wood product distribution operations in 10 states, 5 in the South. Weyerhaeuser Co. sold its idle OSB mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick, for C$31 million, to Arbec Forest Products of St. Lonard, Quebec. The mill has been shut down since 2007 and a previously announced sale of the mill to Arbec in 2009 failed to close. Arbec expects to restart the mill later this year and employ about 200 people. Uniboard USA LLC announced in January that it has successfully closed the sale of its Moncure, North Carolina, panel mill (TMS NC2) to a subsidiary of Paneles Arauco of Santiago, Chile, for $62 million. Uniboard is a subsidiary of Pfleiderer AG, and manufactures particleboard, as well as high density and medium density fiberboard. Norske Skog of Lysaker, Norway, has agreed to sell its Norske Skog Bio Bio operation in Chile to Group BO, a consortium of Chilean investors, for $56 million. Group BO plans to continue producing newsprint at the Concepcin mill which has annual pulp capacity of 143,000 tons. The parties expect the deal to close in the 2nd Quarter. Norske Skog also announced it would close its pulp and paper mill in Follum, Norway, and sell the site to Viken Skog of Hnefoss, Norway, a large forest owner cooperative. The mill produced newsprint and coated magazine paper, with annual wood pulp capacity of 385,000 tons. The net proceeds of the sale were NOK60 million (about US$10.5 million). The parties expect the deal to close in the 2nd Quarter. Tembec Industries completed the sale of its British Columbia wood products business to Canfor Corp. for C$65 million. Assets sold included Tembecs Elko and Canal Flats sawmills with annual capacity of about 420 million board feet and related volumes of timber supply on Crown and private land. The transaction includes a long term residual fiber supply agreement for 1st Quarter 2012
Tembecs Skookumchuck mill. The transaction brings Canfors total softwood sawmill capacity to more than 5 billion board feet. Tembec plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt.
machines, started up last year at other mills to replace lost capacity, were shut down at the end of March: one each at the Iwanuma Mill, the Fugi Mill and the Yoshinaga Mill. Chiles Fire and Quake Chiles forest products industry suffered a double blow this quarter: massive forest fires and another severe earthquake. The forest fires began in late December 2011, and quickly spread to more than 20,000 acres due to hot, dry summer conditions. By January 6th, fire had destroyed Araucos 500 bsf per year radiata pine plywood facility at Nueva Aldea. Press reports estimated the fire burned about 40,000 acres, much in Torres del Paine National Park in the Chilean Patagonia but also in Araucos 17,000 acres of plantation forest. There were no injuries and no further destruction at the Nueva Aldea complex, which has a pulp mill, sawmill and biomass power plants. Arauco temporarily shut down all facilities to join the firefighting effort and later announced plans to rebuild the plywood plant, with restart planned for late 2013. On March 25th a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Maule region of Chile, eighteen miles below the surface and was felt across a wide region. Two of Araucos pulp mills, Licancel and Constitucin, were near the epicenter and temporarily shut down for inspection and possible repairs. The two mills have about 545,000 tons of annual pulp capacity. No other mills reported damage or disruption. This was the strongest of the many earthquakes that have hit Chile periodically since an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February 2010 shut down all the pulp capacity in the region.
Other News
Hardwood Promotion Success
The Hardwood Federation (HF), an industry trade association based in Washington DC, reported a success story this quarter: the US Department of the Navy selected American Hardwood for a new gym floor. The original military purchase order to build a gym floor at the Marine Corps base in Camp Lejune NC had at first excluded US hardwoods in favor of rapidly renewable imported bamboo. HF reported that after its campaign which lasted several months, the Navy rescinded the initial purchase order and reopened the project to bids, including those specifying domestic hardwoods. The order was subsequently awarded to Southern Flooring Inc. based in Greenville SC.
countries view the agreement as a way to ensure predictability and stability in a historically contentious trade relationship. Under the SLA, the US agrees to cease imposing antidumping and countervailing duties upon softwood lumber from Canada. In exchange, Canada agrees to apply combinations of export charges and volume limitations to shipments of softwood lumber from Canada to the US. These restrictions apply only when lumber markets are weak, specifically when the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price averages $315 or less. Low lumber prices have prevailed in all but three months since the SLA began in 2006, so the most restrictive taxes and quotas have been in place for nearly all of the past six years. Lumber shipments from BC and Alberta are subject to a 15 percent tax. Those in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan pay a 5 percent tax and have quota restrictions. The SLA provides for arbitration to resolve disputes between the US and Canada, conducted under the rules of the LCIA (the London Court of International Arbitration), and there is no appeal from the decision of the tribunal. The US has brought three disputes under the SLA since 2006: In the first, a tribunal found that Canada had miscalculated quotas for exports from certain areas of Canada during the first six months of 2007, and found that Canada must impose additional export duties on softwood lumber as compensation. Canada notified the US that the full amount had been collected and ceased applying the additional duties in July 2011. In the second, a tribunal found that certain provincial programs in Quebec and Ontario provided a benefit to Canadian softwood producers in breach of the SLA, and found that Canada must impose additional export duties on softwood lumber from those provinces as compensation. Canada began imposing the duties on March 1st 2011 and was due to cease at the October 2013 expiration of the agreement. The governments have not agreed Page 31
on the effect of the extension on this penalty tax. The third dispute concerns the alleged underpricing of public timber killed by pine beetle infestations in the interior region of British Columbia and has not yet been resolved.
Policy Issues
Litigation and rule-making continued this quarter on several issues affecting the forest products industry: property rights, boiler emissions, and immigrant labor EPA on property rights: In March, the US Supreme Court held in Sackett vs. US EPA that landowners have a right direct judicial review if the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) takes control of their property, for example by declaring it to be wetlands. EPA on Boiler MACT rules: The EPAs maximum achievable control technology, MACT, standards for industrial boiler emissions under the Clean Air Act have been contested in court and their implementation as published is not assured. However, the EPA issued a letter to boiler operators stating its intention not to enforce deadlines until issues have been further resolved. Industry on Boiler MACT rules: The Southern Lumber Manufacturers Association (SLMA), American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) and other industry leaders have recommended that facilities should be actively working on their compliance strategies. They warn that the courtset deadlines could hold.
DOL on H2B Wage Rules: The federal Department of Labor (DOL) is defending its new H2B Wage Rules, published last year, in a lawsuit filed by the Forest Resources Association (FRA) and other plaintiffs. Legislation passed in December prevents the DOL from implementing the new Wage Rule through September 30th 2012. DOL on H2B Program Rules: On February 21st the DOL published its H-2B Final Program Rule in the Federal Register. That rule sets H-2B Visa Program guest worker housing requirements, transportation costs, work payment guarantees, and other provisions which could dramatically increase reforestation labor costs. The Program Rule becomes effective on April 23rd 2012. The rule: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/201203058_PI.pdf Materials, including fact sheets: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b.cfm Additional information: http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/H2BFinalRul e/index.htm
Clifford Rushton, Olympia WA, representing a conservation district James Houser, Jacksonville TX, representing consulting foresters New Publications: In February, US Forest Service National Timber Tax Specialist, Linda Wang, released the 2011 edition of Federal Income Tax on Timber: A Key to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/library/taxpubfaqs.pdf The US Forest Service published reports on the forests of the Northeast US, Lake States and Midwest. Forests of the Northern United States. Stephen Shifley et al. 2012. US Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 202 p. GTR-NRS-90 The 20 Northern States have a larger population and a higher proportion of forest cover than other comparably sized US regions. Since 1953, the population in the North has increased by 40 percent, forest area by 28 percent, and timber volume by 140 percent. The increases in forest area appear to be leveling off as urban expansion overtakes about 1.5 million acres of forest land per decade. Seventy-four percent of forests are privately owned. http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs//gtr/gtr_nrs90.pdf The Forests of Southern New England, 2007: A report on the forest resources of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Brett Butler et al. 2011. RB-NRS55. http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/rb/rb_nrs55.pdf State by State: The Northern Research Station published new (and some old) reports and research notes on state forest resources from West Virginia north to Maine and west to Nebraska. To find these new reports, use Treesearch: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/
Rob Olszewski, Marietta GA, representing private forest landowners Michele Curtis, Perry FL, representing forest industry Amadou Diop, Mableton GA, representing conservation organizations Tom DeGomez, Flagstaff AZ, representing a land grant college or university
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Weather, Etc.
General Weather: An early spring, with warmer than normal temperatures, characterized weather patterns across the South this quarter. Dry weather in the eastern states of the South was relieved by more normal rainfall in March. Texas and Louisiana had above normal rainfall for most of the quarter. Violent storms hit several states in early March, from southern Indiana and eastern Kentucky to northern Alabama and Georgia. While not as severe as last years April and May tornado damage, the storms did cause injuries, property loss and timber damage. http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/maps/current/ Drought: Deep drought continues in Florida and southern Georgia. Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas had enough rainfall to relieve drought and conditions improved in eastern Texas.
AgSouth Arborgen Supertree Seedlings Cellfor Elite Seedlings F&W Forestry Forest Landowners Association International Forest Company Seedlings Wood Resources International Larson & McGowin Metlife Southeast Wood Producers Association Weyerhaeuser Seedlings World Forestry Center
Forecast: Fire risk will be high in the 2nd Quarter 2012 across the coastal plain of the South, with above normal fire potential in Florida and Georgia. Below normal fire potential is expected for interior areas including Tennessee and Arkansas. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ Fire: Both the number of fires and the number of acres burned in the South were well below average in the 1st Quarter. Nation-wide the number of fires was 72 percent of the 10-year average for January through March. Acres burned were approximately 40 percent of the 10-year average.
http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/predictive.htm
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