Weyco Expanding In Arkansas With EWP

Weyerhaeuser Co. has announced plans to invest approximately $500 million to build a new, state-of-the-art TimberStrand facility near Monticello and Warren, Ark., expanding the company’s engineered wood products (EWP) capacity in the U.S. South. The facility will have an annual production capacity of approximately 10 million cubic feet, which is comparable to the company’s existing TimberStrand facility in Kenora, Ontario. Construction is expected to begin in 2025, with the goal of starting operations in 2027.

Leveraging its proprietary TimberStrand technology, Weyerhaeuser is combining institutional expertise from Kenora with extensive research and development to manufacture TimberStrand with southern yellow pine as the primary feedstock. Given the company’s sizeable timber holdings in Arkansas, the Monticello facility is strategically located to source most of its fiber log requirements from company-owned timberlands in the region. Additionally, the plant will include a biomass-fueled cogeneration system, which will fully supply the plant’s electrical needs and significantly reduce its environmental footprint.

This announcement represents an expansion of Weyerhaeuser’s total investment and impact in Arkansas, adding a third manufacturing facility to go along with a lumber mill in Dierks and a plywood and veneer plant in Emerson, as well as 1.2 million acres of timberlands, a seedling nursery and several offices—currently employing more than 700 people across the state, with 200 more jobs to be added as the new EWP facility comes on-line. 

“This is an exciting opportunity to grow our EWP business, expand TimberStrand into the U.S. South and provide an additional outlet for our fiber logs in Arkansas,” says Devin W. Stockfish, President & CEO, Weyerhaeuser. “Of the wood products we produce, EWP has the strongest tie to single-family housing construction activity, and this new facility aligns with our conviction that U.S. housing demand will remain favorable over the long term. In addition, this plant will allow Weyerhaeuser to better serve other customers and end markets in the region, including mass timber applications, and it supports our broader sustainability ambitions. I’d like to thank the state of Arkansas and local officials for working with Weyerhaeuser to site this facility. We look forward to building on our long history in the state and providing new employment opportunities in Monticello and surrounding communities.”

The company expects to incur approximately $500 million of capital expenditures for the facility through 2027 and plans to exclude this investment for purposes of calculating the company’s annual adjusted funds available for distribution, as used in its flexible cash return framework. This capital outlay may be sourced from cash on hand or through future financing, as the company deems appropriate.