National Hardwood Magazine - October 2020

SOUTHEAST Continued from

SOUTHEAST Continued from page 8 relocations of metro, inner city consumers moving to the suburbs,” he observed. “People are building more single family, residential housing.” Scarcity of labor due to COVID was a setback, he noted. Asked if COVID was negatively affecting his business in other ways, he remarked, “No, we are in a positive place and it looks to be positive for the next several months.” Meanwhile, in North Carolina, a spokesperson for a lumber company viewed his company’s business thusly: “On a scale of 1-10, it’s a 6 or 7 for Hardwood.” He noted that from six months earlier, “I don’t know that it’s changed that much.” His company handles Poplar and Red and White Oak. The White Oak is the best seller. Thicknesses range from 4/4 to 8/4. Customers include end users and distribution yards, with the focus on end users. How are customers faring in their sales? “It depends on who you talk to,” the lumber representative stated. “Some folks are fine, doing pretty good, and then the next guy you talk to is wondering where everything has gone. Maybe it’s their end product that creates that; some items move better than others.” As for getting the product to the customer, “Trucks are tight right now,” he said. In Virginia, a lumber sales representative stated that domestic sales were “not very good,” but, “exports are moving.” How did this compare to six months earlier? “Better,” she quickly said. “Anything’s better than six months ago.” This firm offers Red and White Oak, Poplar and Walnut, mostly in 4/4. She said she was able to “move Red and White Oak with no problem. Walnut, I don’t get enough to know. Poplar is kind of iffy.” The company ships some of its lumber to distribution yards, some to end users and some (overseas) to people who put the lumber in warehouses and sell it. “Domestically,” she said, “it’s coming around. They hope things are starting to turn. I think that it may turn because, if people have to stay at home, they want to fix their homes up. They’ve got to be there.” She said trucking was not a problem for her company. In Tennessee, a lumber sales spokesman reported that, “The export market is not very good. The domes- 54 OCTOBER 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE

tic market, I would say, is good to very good. With the pandemic, people are at home remodeling: stair treads, Hardwood flooring, moulding, trim, fireplaces, furniture. The domestic side of the business seems to be propping the market up.” Compared to six months previously, “In my opinion, it’s better,” he remarked. “Our business is probably some 20 percent better than it was then. We are strictly domestic, but we sell to American exporters. But we don’t do any exporting. We’re typically always more in the domestic side of things.” He stated that they sell all major Appalachian species: Red and White Oak, Hickory, Hard and Soft Maple, Poplar, Ash and Cherry. He stated that it was a toss-up for best-selling between Poplar (probably the top-seller) and White Oak. Hard and Soft Maple were moving well, and upper Red Oak and Common grades of Red Oak also were doing well. Poplar comes in 4/4 to 6/4; White Oak in 4/4 and 6/4; all other species are cut to 4/4. This company sells to end users and some distribution centers. It sells green lumber to flooring manufacturers. These customers tell this lumber sales representative that they have a shortage of workers. Regarding transportation, “We have our own fleet of trucks, so we control our trucking,” he noted. “We do hire some outside. We have no issues with trucking to this point. Some of our customers prefer to pick up their own lumber here, and those guys seem to be struggling a bit.” n GTL LUMBER 16 Dry Kilns 800,000 BF Dry Kiln Capacity 2,000,000 BF Air Dry Capacity GRAF & THOMAS LUMBER GTL Lumber, Inc. (est. 02/19) 4/4 Rift & Quartered - White Oak • Poplar 4/4 Plain Sawn - White Oak • Hickory • Poplar • Red Oak SLR2E & HM Available Contact: Erin Cox 740-250-4227 • erin@gtllumber.com Graf & Thomas Lumber (est. 02/17) 4 Log Yard Locations Vanceburg, KY • Grayson, KY • South Shore, KY • Ironton, OH Container Logs - Ties - Timbers - Crane Mats - Cants Contact: Damon Graf 740-727-1003 • damon@grafwood.com 4 LOG YARDS 2 SAWMILLS OCTOBER 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 55