Replies

1. 
   Hudson Valley Carpenter | Mar 28, 2008 06:10pm | #1

   It's the nature of the economy, at least that's the way it's been all my life..  The housing market reflects it.  So some mills will close for a while, then re-open.  The employees will collect their unemployment and go fishing or look for other work, whatever fits their needs.

   I recall driving down the coast of Oregon in '69. So many mills idle and people out of work but it all came back, bigger than before.

   
   

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   Edited 3/29/2008 3:29 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter

2. 
   frenchy | Mar 28, 2008 06:23pm | #2

   Mooney

     Many sawmills are closing or have closed as a result of the down turn in housing starts.

     I did a informal survey of local ones and only one of the  9 local mills I frequent is still in business full time and they haven't turned a profit since the middle of 2006.

      I had a potential european buyer for white oak and the stumpage prices they still have to pay makes the deal not profitable even though the going price for white Oak is nearly twice the price paid here in America..

1. 
   Mooney | Mar 29, 2008 07:42am | #5

   Well , I was in the lumber business when I was a kid . I dont proclaim to know much about it now being out of it so long however I did grow up in it and have been in this business my whole life using lumber. Im still not considering myself educated in it .

   When you talk about other lumber it doesnt have the same reflection to me as yellow pine in this discussion. That is unless its done different somewhere else than here. Yellow pine is strength soft wood thats used in floor and roof framing . We use no alternative . Unless you consider concrete . Most all of our other wood , building houses here comes from Canada. We have some select oak and run it but its a small portion compared to yellow pine. Oak has a lot of other markets . Riverside furniture is huge and buys a big portion of our Oak. They are a bigger buyer than the house retail market.

   As was lightly mentioned Georgia pacific is here and has its plywood plant . They turn out plywood and an other plant makes chip board products from pine and oak. Mostly pine . So we are back to saying that most sheeting installed today comes from yellow pine base .

   I guess what Im really saying is yellow pine is the biggest housing indicator in lumber uses.  

3. 
   john7g | Mar 28, 2008 08:19pm | #3

   I wonder how many loggers that will affect and other people in the area.  Once read that where I used to work (major employer in GA) that each employee created something like 7 jobs in the local econmy.  Not sure if that's true or not (it was the opinion of some analyst IIRC) but there's still a significant impact. 

1. 
   Mooney | Mar 29, 2008 07:53am | #6

   Its a huge job impact here because we are in the national forrest. Yellow pine is huge in Arkansas . Lots of spin offs .

   Ill name one probably no one is thinking about .

   I studied a trucking load board for a year . I thought about buying a truck and giving this business up. My plan was always to work for myself and book my own loads. The first thing I learned if I wanted to "home " here , I needed to run a flat bed . At that time I could book a load 7 days per week any week with lumber leaving from here . I couldnt always get home but I could leave any day loaded from the house .

   We have a pretty big trucking industry to support it too.

   So yea , its huge . 20 percent of my renters are truckers. One "did" work in the forrest. Two have been pushed out of the flat bed business and are pulling refers for walmart.  

4. 
   Jim_Allen | Mar 29, 2008 05:11am | #4

   I suspect that the yellow pine mill is closing because the lumber it is turning out is too crowned and crooked LOL!

   Maybe Texas will get some decent doug fir in here now!

   Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

1. 
   Mooney | Mar 29, 2008 07:55am | #7

   Thats no joke Jim.

   Its very crooked because of the varieity they are growing now trying to compete . Much different than 20 years ago. We used to grow some good wood but now its only decent for plywood. Its the worst Ive ever seen. We never frame walls with it .

   Tim