Minnesota Looking To Attract Mass Timber Producers

by | Aug 8, 2018 | News

A burgeoning industry based on a relatively new type of material may be coming to Minnesota. Known as mass timber, the material is an alternative to steel in building construction. While dozens of buildings constructed with the product are dotted around the country, the majority stand in the Pacific Northwest.

“This type of building product is new to the U.S.,” said Brian Brashaw, a program manager with the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s geared at taller buildings; it’s building more along the lines of four, five and six stories. That product is seeing a lot of growth in the United States.”

Now, local groups and governmental agencies are working on a plan to bring that industry to the Midwest. But before a production facility can set up shop in Minnesota, officials need to know if the right kind of raw materials can be produced in the region.

“This is a feasibility study where we’re taking a closer look at if the Midwest has the lumber production capacity and softwood lumber supply chain in place,” wrote Kristen Bergstrand, of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in an email.

A survey is being sent to 11 sawmills in the region that will help gauge if the state can sustain a mass timber industry. APEX, the local business and economic development organization which is sending out the survey, wants to learn the grade and board footage that mills have produced for trees such as red pine, jack pine, spruce and balsam — all considered viable materials for mass timber.

Read more on this from the Duluth News Tribune at https://duluthnewstribune.com/business/manufacturing/4482202-minnesota-looking-attract-mass-timber-producers.

Moody’s: Wood Product Growth Supports 2018 Stable Outlook

by | Dec 13, 2017 | News

The likelihood of strong profits from the wood products business, alongside higher prices and growth in paper packaging from increased e-commerce demand, will help to offset the secular declines in the printing and writing paper segment, says Moody’s Investors Service in its annual sector outlook published recently. As a result, the outlook for the global paper and forest products sector will remain stable in 2018.

“The stable outlook for paper and forest products globally next year is underpinned by an expected 2%-4% growth of our rated paper and forest products companies, as strength in the wood products and paper packaging subsectors offset decreased demand for commodity paper as the shift to digital-first alternatives continues,” says Ed Sustar, a Moody’s Senior Vice President and author of the report.

On a subsector basis, the positive outlook for wood products and timberland is buoyed by improving strong end-market demand for timber, lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and engineered wood products as US housing starts increase about 6%, or approximately 1.28 million units, in 2018.

Bolstered by the robust demand emanating from the US homebuilding market, average lumber prices are expected to remain strong, with increased production capacity aligning to support the demand, Moody’s says. Nevertheless, analysts caution that the tight lumber markets will allow countervailing anti-dumping duties assessed on Canadian lumber exported to the US to be passed on to consumers. The issuers most expected to benefit from a combination of higher lumber prices and little-to-no lumber tariffs include Potlatch Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser Company and Rayonier Inc.

From Moody’s Investors Service: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Wood-product-growth-supports-2018-stable-outlook-offsetting-commodity–PR_377021

Polymer Solutions Group Acquires Michelman’s Wood Release Agent Product Line

by | Aug 23, 2017 | News

A Polymer Solutions Group (PSG) company, Sasco Chemical, announced that it has acquired the wood release agent product line of Michelman, Inc., a supplier of release agents to the engineered wood market.

PSG is a manufacturer of specialty polymers and additives for the rubber, wood, consumer, construction, and medical industries. Michelman is a global developer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly advanced materials with surface additives and polymeric binders.

In 2015, Sasco opened a release agent production facility in Albany, Georgia and has expanded its business in the wood release agents market over the past several years by leveraging its core competencies around anti-tack products primarily sold into the rubber industry.

“The acquisition of Michelman’s Michem wood release agents will advance PSG’s strategic goal of growing its product portfolio of functional materials for the construction industry,” said Mike Ivany, president and CEO of PSG. “Specifically, this solidifies PSG and Sasco as a dedicated supplier to the engineered wood market and provides a platform to expand PSG’s presence into other technical and geographical areas.”

To ensure a smooth transition, Michelman will continue to manufacture the acquired products for PSG while the production capacity is increased at its production facilities. Over the next few months, Sasco’s wood products and the newly acquired products from Michelman will be integrated into PSG’s functional materials business segment and will be sold under PSG’s existing brand name, TechKote.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/polymer-solutions-group-acquires-michelmans-wood-release-agent

CalAg Rice MDF Plant Is A Go

by | Jun 16, 2017 | News

CalAg Rice MDF Plant Is A Go

 

The CalAg rice straw-based medium density fiberboard plant is becoming a reality. CalPlant I, as it is called, has completed and closed financing for a $315 million plant to be built in Willows, Calif. with a production capacity of 140MMSF (3/4 in. basis) and a startup goal of late 2018.

The project has been in the works for more than 20 years, since the principals first shipped California grown rice straw to England for testing. Since then, the endeavor experienced a series of “almosts,” until the recent successful financing, which includes $228 million of tax-exempt private activity revenue bonds priced through the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, and $87 million cash equity.

A group of minority investors includes a subsidiary of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, Columbia Forest Products, the German-based machinery manufacturer Siempelkamp, CalAg LLC and a range of other investors.

The project stems from state legislation in 1991 that prohibited farmers from burning rice straw, the waste product of rice harvesting. Smoky haze had become an issue in the region.

CalAg President Jerry Uhland, a rice farmer, joined a small venture formed by another agriculture man, Jim Boyd, in 1996 that began researching rice straw-based MDF. They were soon joined by Les Younie, who had worked in wood products operations, and who today remains Vice President of Manufacturing.

The project is expected to bring several environmental advantages including water use reduction, methane emissions reduction, fungicide and chemicals reduction. And obviously it provides a new recycling market for roughly 275,000 tons of rice straw annually.

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Vaagen Timbers Gets Into CLT

by | Apr 7, 2017 | News

Vaagen Timbers Gets Into CLT

 

Sawmillers have formed Vaagen Timbers, which will construct a mass timber facility in Colville, Wash. The new business will produce cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue laminated beams (glulam).

Vaagen Timbers is partnering with Vaagen Bros. Lumber, Inc. for the supply of lumber to the new facility, which will be adjacent the Vaagen Bros. Lumber sawmill in Colville.

“Although the entities will be operated separately, this connection will add value to both businesses,” comments Russ Vaagen. “This will allow Vaagen Bros. and Vaagen Timbers to tell the small log story from the forest to better buildings.”

The state-of-the-art facility will be designed to produce multiple sizes of straight glulam beams up to 60 ft. long. CLT production will be up to 12 in. thick, 4 ft. wide, and 60 ft. long. Operations are scheduled to begin in 2018.

Production capacity numbers are still being tested, but forecasted capacity on two shifts for two press lines will consume approximately 50MMBF per year. Once Vaagen Timbers develops market demand, plans for a second 8 ft. press will provide a more diversified product offering.

“This is exciting for all involved including the forest, the community, and the future of eco-friendly buildings in North America,” Vaagen adds.

Bert and Bud Vaagen founded Vaagen Brothers Lumber in the early 1950s and the business has not only been a sawmilling mainstay in the Northwest since then, but is recognized as one of the leaders of the industry. Current President Duane Vaagen was Timber Processing’s Man of the Year in 1989.

 

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