SLB - Continued from
SLB - Continued from page 2 strategy recommendations and execution for paid, earned, and owned media channels. The SLB will also continue to support the Association Partnership Program and the Wood Pavilion at the International Builder Show, JLC Live New England, the Remodeling Show and Deck Expo, the American Institute of Architects Convention, and the Greenbuild trade show. Wood, Naturally content will be transitioned over to Think Wood’s website to continue to connect interior and exterior product information with residential contractors, builders, and remodelers, providing a seamless experience that highlights the benefits of wood in appearance and structural applications, indoors and outdoors, within the residential and commercial segments. n FORECASTS - Continued from page 10 with rising interest rates and we see a pause in the frenzy until the uncertainty sorts itself out. In the end, we are all challenged to run good companies, care for our people and create a long term strategy for the future designed to support our individual, corporate and industry related goals. May we all make good choices to ensure 2019 is a prosperous year for the proactive participants. Kamal Sanghera San Group Inc. Langley, BC Our goals in 2019 will include the 0 million expansion of our new sawmill and remanufacturing plant in Port Alberni, as well as the expansion of our Cedar direct retail division. One of the biggest challenges this year will be fiber Kamal Sanghera supply, which is partly the reason why we are spending money to ensure that we have technology to allow us to utilize all of the fiber supply that is available with a reduced carbon footprint. Some of our other recent investments have included: • Two moulder lines, which has allowed us to offer ready made products such as T&G, Bevel, Channel, and other finished products • An optimizing chop saw • A finger jointer that will be operational in the near future In 2019, our focus will remain on our customers who are spread throughout the world. The goal is to continue our history of providing specialty Western Red Cedar from rough lumber all the way to engineered products. Trina V. Francesconi Sandy Neck Traders Harwich, MA Sandy Neck Traders continues to focus on providing value products to our customer base, while being a resource for our mill partners in cleaning up their inventories. In 2019, we also look to strengthen our area deliveries to different geographic regions across the Trina Francesconi country, as well as regional warehouses in areas where we have a large customer base. In doing this, we can offer faster turn around and reduced costs for our customers. We plan to increase the Sandy Neck brand of “People who know you, and your business” to a wider service area, and have positioned ourselves to offer better service for our customers and more sales for our mill partners. North America’s Premier Manufacturer of SPF Specialty Wood Building Products Full-service Distributor of Appearance Grade Lumber Page 48 Softwood Forest Products Buyer n January/February 2019
Continuing to improve logistics remains a top priority for the new year. With increased DOT regulations, freight availability has dwindled, especially during the peak season. We are increasing our own fleet of trucks, as well as our network of carrier partners to ensure prompt and on schedule deliveries for our customer base and vendors. Our customers are accustomed to us having the stock when they need it and getting it to them quickly, and we continue to work on ways to become more efficient. We do not have remanufacturing or milling facilities, but have increased our warehouse space, both at our flagship location and in regions with a heavy customer base. This has allowed us to increase our inventories and our buying power, as well as offer a more diverse line of products to our customer base with quicker turn-around times. We have been fortunate to partner with some terrific carriers to ensure prompt and accurate inbound and outbound freight, but still face carriers dropping off loads without warning when we need to source transportation outside of our network. Rate fluctuations on certain lanes dependent upon the season have been more volatile than usual this past year, which has also made freight estimating a bit trickier compared to previous years. We sell to industrial manufacturers, independent lumberyards, millwork shops and other large quantity users. This year proved to be particularly strong - we’re selling everything we can buy and are looking for more mill opportunities! Sandy Neck Traders is a stocking wholesaler of Eastern White Pine, Western Red Cedar, Cypress, Hemlock, Redwood, Southern Yellow Pine T&G Flooring and Windswept trim and siding. The vast majority of our stocked inventory is dedicated to supporting prompt shipments of customer specific inventories, shipping from our yard in Massachusetts to states east of the Mississippi. Rob Tam Rob Tam Haida Forest Products Ltd. Burnaby, BC I have taken over the position of sales manager for Haida Forest Products Ltd., upon Gary Arthur’s retirement at the end of December. Heading into 2019, as with every new year, it is always our goal to strengthen our relationships with existing customers and to grow and diversify our business with new customers through these challenging and ever-changing market conditions. The market for specialty Western Red Cedar siding and paneling products has changed significantly in the past two years. Customers are keeping smaller inventories and often requesting job lot quantities only. Our challenge is to try to remain profitable, while serving an ever-demanding customer base. The change in demand is directly related to U.S. lumber duties. With U.S. lumber duties adding 20 percent to our selling prices, market share for WRC is being lost to non-Cedar alternative products. We are on average paying over 0 per thousand just in duties for our products. In addition, raw material prices have increased over the past two years and there is uncertainty about raw material availability heading into 2019. Logistically, the lower sales volumes have made it more of a challenge to fill out our multi drop mixed trucks delivering wood to many of our U.S. customers. On a more positive note, Haida Forest Products has built long-term relationships with our lumber suppliers and our transportation partners. Over the past 67 years of operation, we have proved our company to be a reliable, quality producer of Mixed Grain and Vertical Grain patterns as well as kiln dried Knotty bevel and wavy edge Skirl siding. Our facility and our staff are experienced in meeting the demands of today’s market place. Our customers are located all over North America with 70 percent being in the USA. Haida Forest Products can offer delivered pricing. Mixed truck and multi customer trucks are our specialty. Dean Johnson Dean Johnson Collins Portland, OR After a wild ride in 2018, with record highs mid-year, followed by a dramatic drop in the market the second half of the year, it looks like the market has now started inching its way off the bottom and will continue a more measured firming progression in the first quarter of 2019. Low grade material remains to be in steady demand Continued on page 50 Manufacturers of Western Red Cedar Products www.cedarline.net Surrey, BC, Canada +1 (604) 590-1550 Softwood Forest Products Buyer n January/February 2019 Page 49 CEDARLINE JAN 2019.indd 1 12/17/18 8:34 AM
