Softwood Forest Products Buyer - January/February 2024

Lumber Forecasts for

Lumber Forecasts for 2024 Continued from page 65 Steven Rogers Richardson Timbers Dallas, TX We at Richardson Timbers had a good year over the course of 2023. It was basically flat compared to 2022 but that was expected. We expect 2024 also to be flat depending on world events and the economy in our market area. We sell to retail lumber yards. Douglas Fir was our strongest product this year and is most years. We have opened a new facility in Bertram, TX. Steven Rogers This will allow us to up our production and provide better lead times. With our new facility comes new equipment. We now have four resaws and have a new Cantex double blade resaw, new to the market, that was installed at the end of 2023. Retaining and hiring employees have not been an issue in 2023 for us, and neither has transportation. We continue to look for quality employees in all of our main business units. The strong support for wood products in Benton County home of Oregon State University, a land grant school, has helped in recruiting. Losing ocean service to Europe from Portland and then Tacoma has increased the shipping costs for European customers. Along with the strong USD$ this has been the biggest impact. Right now, we don’t have any concerns with tariffs, we are dealing with them just like everyone else. Therefore, it’s a level playing field and has no impact. Alden Robbins Robbins Lumber Company Searsmont, ME 2023 is turning out to be an adjustment year. The market was not as strong as the past couple of years, but we were still able to move lumber. 2023 has been a big year for our company as we had a large acquisition and a couple of large capital projects. For 2024 I would like to see the capital projects start to pay off and would like to see less volatility in the markets, and like to start getting our costs under control. Inflationary pressures have squeezed margins very tight Alden Robbins this year. Our end market is primarily the independent retail yard serving pro builders. Outside the state of Maine, we service these accounts through wholesale distribution companies. We offered our customers more capacity with the additional mills we acquired. Many of our customers have grown and we felt we had to grow with them in order to continue servicing them. In our sawmill we have installed a new precision chipper, a new Lico high speed edger, a Comact edge expert scanner and a new unscrambler and infeed from Lico. This should get us better grade recovery and eliminate the bottleneck at the edger. Employees are difficult to find right now at all of our facilities. We are paying more than we used to, and trying to get creative, but it’s not easy. Domestically, shipping has eased up and trucks are easier to find. Internationally, we have a strong low-grade market in South Asia, and with political turmoil, the market can be very sporadic. Currently we are not affected by Tariffs with the market we service. n NAFF - Continued from page 10 all ages; providing critical education to young people; and strengthening the pool of talented individuals entering the industry workforce. ● Get the message out and repeat it. Spreading the truth about trees and wood is the key point to convey, and repetition is important in getting any message across. The old saw in marketing says that customers need seven to 12 touches before they take action, and children learning to expand their range of acceptable foods may need to be exposed to the new food 15 times before they cultivate a taste for it. Changing hearts and minds for wood – for good – takes a strategy, creativity, and repetition. ● Educate effectively. Effective education begins at an early age in order to reach a wide range of people. Our signature Truth About Trees kit for K-3 classrooms (provided at no charge) brings the message about trees to kids built upon science-based facts and creative visuals. Kids have an opportunity to learn about trees, and grow in understanding their significance. At the same time, adults around them hear the message and learn something new. A new junior high version, in a gamified app, is also on the horizon. Not only does the app reinforce the message kids should have heard in early elementary, but it builds upon that concept with age-appropriate information and introduction to careers in the field. ● Close the skills gap in the forest and forest products industry. The forest products industry needs smart, curious enthusiastic workers in all types of jobs. As a career field it’s wide open–with something for everyone from art to math, science to accounting and more. The career message is critical. Between ages five and seven children often start thinking about what they want to be when they grow up. Making forestry careers as visible to them as other careers plants a seed that allows their interest to develop. Around sixth grade or junior high is the time when kids begin taking a more realistic interest in careers; once again, having resources available to them to help satisfy their curiosity is an important advantage in building greater interest in the industry and closing the skills gap for good. We’re in this race to win it – and the health of future generations and our planet depends on it. The North American Forest Foundation is dedicated to supporting the forest products industry and helping future generations learn the truth about trees; we are cheerleaders as well for attracting more people to the field for satisfying careers. And, we can’t win the race without you. Send a message to Allison DeFord at adeford@northamericanforestfoundation.org and say I’M IN! Or visit our website, https://northamericanforestfoundation.org/, to learn more about how to become a sponsor of the Truth About Trees app or an annual or one-time donor. Together we keep the industry thriving for generations. Let’s bet on ex- TREEmelysmart for the win! n R Richardson Timbers is a wholesaler and sells exclusively through our dealer network. 10100 Denton Drive Dallas, Texas 75220 214.358.2314 Delivering Quality Timber to our Dealers Nationwide Look to Richardson Timbers for all your timber needs. Douglas Fir 20” x 20” up to 40’ Cedar 16” x 16” up to 40’ Richardson Timbers, founded in 1949, specializes in milling wood timbers and producing custom millwork products. We offer Douglas Fir, Kiln Dried Fir, Western Red Cedar, Mixed Hardwoods, Red Oak, White Oak, Cypress and specialty exotic timbers. Products and Services Include: • Corbels, Brackets and Rafter Tails • Trailer Flooring T R uf • Exclusive Tru-Ruf Custom Surface • Custom Siding Patterns • Surfacing (all four sides up to 20’ x 20”) • Barge Decking • Saw Texture • Precision End Trimming • Reman customer material to specifications STOP WORRYING DALLAS •• BURNET MARBLE COUNTY FALLS www.richardsontimbers.com Page 66 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • January/February 2024 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • January/February 2024 Page 67 E2563 RT Ad.Softwood Buyer.1/2 page.indd 1 8/23/18 6:38 AM