West Fraser Acquisition of Gilman Continues Trend of Canadian Expansion in the U.S. South

| no comments in Wood Demand & Procurement

On July 26, 2017, West Fraser announced an agreement to acquire Gilman Companies, a major producer of southern yellow pine lumber with six sawmills in South Georgia and North Florida comprising 700 million board feet (MMBF) of capacity. The acquisition more…

Timberland Investments and the Strategic Role of Technology

| no comments in Forest Finance & Economics, Forest Technology, Risk Management, Timber Market Analysis, Timberlands, Wood Demand & Procurement

Mid-way through a ninth year of increasing housing starts and growing lumber consumption, timberland investors and forest owners in the U.S. South continue to struggle with flat and, in certain local markets, falling sawlog prices. Previous posts discuss how this more…

Does Your Wood Market Balance? Know Your Numbers for Timber, Lumber, Pulp and Panel Capacity

| no comments in Structural Panels, Stumpage Forecasting, Timber Market Analysis, Timberlands, Wood Bioenergy, Wood Demand & Procurement

In the show “Shark Tank”, a key lesson from watching entrepreneurs get grilled by Kevin O’Leary and company is the importance of knowing your numbers. The questions are always the same, so showing up unprepared is, frankly, inexcusable. What are more…

Analyzing Timber Markets and Wood Baskets for Procurement and Investment Applications

| no comments in Forest Operations, Timber Market Analysis, Wood Demand & Procurement

A successful timber market analysis answers two questions. One, what are the “facts on the ground” for this market or wood basket? This helps profile the market with respect to forest supplies and wood demand. The timber suppliers and wood-using more…

Forisk Forecast: Six Reasons Why Timber Prices in the South Do Not Track U.S. Housing Starts Today

| no comments in Forest Finance & Economics, Forest Technology, Stumpage Forecasting, Timber Market Analysis, Wood Demand & Procurement

This is the fourth in a series related to Forisk’s Q2 2017 forest industry analysis and timber price forecasts for the United States. From 2009 through 2016, U.S. housing starts increased 112%, a compound annual rate exceeding 11%. Over this more…

Forest Product Measurements, Conversion Factors, and Specifications

| no comments in Timber Market Analysis, Wood Bioenergy, Wood Demand & Procurement

Note: this post includes a link to Forisk’s Standard Conversion Values and Product Specifications. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? According to estimates from New York Fish & Wildlife Technician Richard Thomas (and more…