Southern Pine Timber Supply Steady, Mills at Full Capacity

The forest products industry in the U.S. South is moving ahead at a steady pace, despite hurricane-inspired stories of lumber price hikes and so-called lumber shortages. "Short-lived lumber price spikes have already come and gone since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," comments Wade Camp, director of economic services, Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA).

Even with an estimated 25 billion board feet of storm-damaged timber in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, timber supply in the South remains stable. The area of damaged timber represents only about 2.5 percent of the overall forest resources available in the South. Currently, massive recovery operations are underway to reclaim as much downed timber as possible. Approximately 60 percent of the fallen timber is softwoods, predominately Southern Pine. Although some mills sustained storm damage, downtime was minimal and most mills quickly resumed normal operations. In fact, Southern Pine manufacturers are on tap to produce more than 18.5 billion board feet in 2005, an all-time record. Future challenges may not point to timber damage as much as to transportation costs.

Often called "America's Woodbasket," the forests of the South are abundant and growing, offering more than 214 million acres of trees. By volume, the most plentiful softwood species in this region is Southern Pine.

"Our industry is not running out of trees," remarks SFPA's Eric Gee, a registered forester. "Despite recent catastrophic events, our resources are resilient, and will regenerate quickly," he adds.

In other association news, as the massive rebuilding of the Gulf Coast area gets underway, the Southern Pine Council (a joint promotional body coordinated and supported by producing members of the SFPA) has taken the lead with a revamped website (www.southernpine.com) focusing on ways for builders and remodelers to rebuild-and build smarter-with Southern Pine.

"Our new site is just what builders need as we enter the rebuild process across the region," said Richard Kleiner, director of treated markets. "We address all of the hot building topics in one location with complete information, photos and case histories. We offer all of the information, a virtual roadmap of sorts, builders need to build smart, not just in the South, but nationwide."

Topics addressed on the updated website include:

• Raised floor systems: Raised floor systems reduce the risk of flooding and can result in lower flood insurance policies. More information also is provided at www.raisedfloorliving.com.
• Termite-resistant homes: Unfortunately, termites don't blow away with hurricanes. Pressure-treated Southern Pine is the best option for building insect-resistant homes.
• Mold prevention: Depending on the severity of the damage, cost-effective mold removal is possible.
• Blue-stained lumber: That strange blue stain isn't mold, it isn't dangerous and it doesn't affect the integrity of the wood.

For complete information on the topics above, please visit www.southernpine.com.