TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION 2022 FORECASTS Continued Curtis Struyk TMX Shipping Co., Inc. Morehead City, NC 2021 was the most tumultuous year in the 33 years I’ve been in the freight forwarding business. We experienced lack of vessel space, a shortage of truck power, port and rail ramp congestion as well as a shortage of containers and chassis. However, the most frustrating trend was the lack of dependability in vessel schedules. Because of all the constraints in the shipping industry, it took five times the amount of work to make and manage an export booking. Under normal circumstances, we book a shipment, send the information to the appropriate parties, and the schedule rarely changes. In 2021, vessel schedules changed daily. We also had to make bookings 30 days in advance because of lack of vessel space, making our job very difficult but also making us more relevant and valuable to our customers. Having a staff of 40 and specializing in the export of wood products since 1980, we have an advantage because of our expertise, the relationships we hold and the volumes we ship, enabling us to navigate difficult times while servicing our customers at a high level. We expect the current demand for space to remain high and the shipping woes to continue but remain confident in our ability to handle even the most difficult transportation issues. We expect rates to remain the same through the first quarter of 2022 with the possibility of a slight increase to the fuel bunker. As long as the shipping environment stays in its current state, we do not expect this to change. In Q4 2021, we were averaging 4500 FEUS (40-foot equivalent units) each month with a small lull due to Chinese New Year. We expect this trend to continue into Q1 2022. The economy shows no signs of slowing, and inflation has proven not to be transitory. I do agree that many of the supply bottlenecks we are currently experiencing should subside by the second half of 2022. n 42 FEBRUARY 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE
SWHMC Continued from page 30 but I’d rather have problems in this environment than problems that we had before we got to this point. So, I am extremely optimistic about this industry going forward, and I think we have a bright road ahead of us. We are still not at six million board feet or like that, and somebody said to me, 'Well, heck, y’all could probably handle nine million.' Well, tell me, where am I going to get the people? Also, if I order a piece of equipment today, a front-end loader or something like that, it is liable to be 12 months before I get it. I can’t get the people. I can’t get the machinery. I could probably get the raw material. I need to be running two shifts at my sawmill right now, but I can’t get enough people to do that. "So, I don’t think even we in this industry can screw this one up and normally we do! Normally we out-produce any market we have ever been in. I just don’t think it can happen this time. I think we are going to have good business; we actually are going to have three to five years of growth." Another attendee exclaimed: "I can't believe how good of a business we are in and how fast it got here. Everything for us has been in upper grades." Lumber representatives cited the typical domestic species as being strong sellers: White Oak, Poplar, Red Oak, Hickory, for example. Distribution/concentration yards and end use manufacturers were primary customers of many of those attendees. In lower lumber grades, some attendees addressed the board road material and switch/cross tie markets. A Missouri rep said the crosstie business was very strong at the time of this meeting, as well as switch ties. His company sells them in 13-through-17-foot lengths. Another representative whose company sells railroad ties said he had heard that a large railroad company in Canada was going to cut back their purchases of ties by 30 percent. All acknowledged that tariffs with Canada as well as overseas, particularly with China, placed pressure on many of these markets. Regarding stave logs, an attendee noted: "Our market is really crazy and whatever logs we get, most of it is going to stave and customers have backed off on their grade. They used to get No. 1 Common logs and now they are getting the smaller sizes." Some equipment companies were representated at the SWHMC meeting too. A trend being noticed in the industry is one of automation to offset challenges presented by not being able to hire enough people to run Please turn the page bdahn@hhp-inc.com • lumbersales@hhp-inc.com 14 Buxton Industrial Drive, PO Box 489, Henniker NH 03242 603-428-3298 www.hhp-inc.com Pride in Quality from the Forest to you... HHP, INC. World Class Northern Hardwoods Specializing in 4/4 & 5/4 Production of Red Oak • Ash • Hard & Soft Maple • Yellow Birch Premium Quality Northern Hardwoods Sawmill • Kilns • Export Prep • Container Loading 13 Million Board Feet Annual Production FEBRUARY 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 43
