32 PalletCentral • September-October 2019 palletcentral.com
Hardwood
Production:
Present and Future
While production of
industrial hardwood items
has increased, total
hardwood sawmill
production has contracted
this year. Relatively few
sawmills have permanently
closed to this point. Rather,
the decline has resulted
largely from cutbacks at
facilities still in operation.
According to the latest available Hardwood Market Report
estimate, Eastern U.S. hardwood production was down 10.6%
on the year through August 2019. Importantly, production was
15.3% lower this August
than last August compared
to an average year-over-year
monthly drop of 9.8% from
January through July. Absent
seasonal factors, production
is decreasing faster now than
earlier in the year.
The drop in production
is largely a function of
mills deliberately reducing
output to bring supply
into conformance with
lower demand. Notably,
weather has not been as disruptive to logging and sawmill
operations this year as in 2017 and 2018. Parts of the South and
Midwest are still enduring weather-related log supply issues, but
most areas are not.
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