The Ten Biggest Lumber Producers: Who They Are, How They Did lt

By Dwight Curran Contributing Editor

E ACH YEAR at this time, The E lvlsTgllsnt Magazin? surveys lumber industry production for the preceding year. This information quickly indicates to all what haPpened in the industry and, in addition. serves as a mirror of the housing industry, lumber's single largest market.

The material presented here is based on the May 30, 1980 issue of Forest Industries, its Annual ltmber Review & Buyer's Czide issue. In addition, further research was done by interviewing industry executives to further broaden and develoP the scope of this survey. However, we are deeply indebted to Forest Industries for permitting us to use their information as a basis for this article.

What is not news this Year is that Weyerhaeuser Co. remains in the number one position. The Tacoma, Wa., headquartered firm produced 2 billion 955 million feet of lumber at 32 locations. At the other end of the spectrum was the E. Arnold Johnson Co. of Siren. Wi. If his

Sfory at a Glance

lumber did not come screamlng into your yard last year, it is because they sawed only 10,000 feet of lumber.

So that is the large and the small of it. Somewhere in between are the hundreds and hundreds of sawmills that converted logs into lumber and produced millions and millions of feet of lumber that enabled the people in this country to house themselves, to entertain themselves in their leisure time, and to beautifY their surroundings with the warmth of wood.

Total estimated national production for 1979 was 37.398 billion feet. Total estimated consumption was almost 46 billion feet. The difference is covered by softwood imports from Canada and hardwood imports from the rest of the world. Of the total reported to the survey, there was about 47.7 billion feet produced in the United States and Canada for 1979, down slightlY from the 49.3 billion feet of 1978. The survey, itself, appears to cover about 850/o of the industry, so the overall figures will be somewhat higher.

It was a banner year for Weyerhaeuser Co.. however. Their 2 billion. 955 million feet of production in 1979 exceeded their 1978 cut bY 293 million feet. This was 9.910/o higher than 1978's all-time high. However, it is important that we note that this figure a/so covers their Canadian production and, at this time, there is no way of seParating their Canadian figures. Accordingly, the production figures of this firm are somewhat misleading because all other comPdnies in this article show only domestic production. Whether or not this would affect the second place firm cannot be determined now, but it may be important to examine this area in the future.

Second place Louisiana-Pacific Corp. of Portland, Or., turned out 2 billion, 193 million feet at 62 mills in1979. That figure was 137 million feet more than 1978. Although much of L-P production is on the West Coast, including California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, it is becoming a bigger factor in the South. L-P has mills in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Moreover, there are some plants located in Michigan and Wisconsin as well. Furthermore, LP is also busy with plants in Alaska.

THIRD PLACE IS GEORGIA-PACIFIC

Georgia-Pacific Corp. of Portland. Or.. remains in third place this year. Although most think of Georgia-Pacific as a leader in PIYwood, it is also a very large factor in lumber. 1979 production was I billion, 448 million feet as compared to the 1978 figure of I billion, 416 million feet. Very little of this lumber was produced on the West Coast, though. The Fort Bragg, Ca., site sawed 175 million feet of lumber (about 800,000 feet per daY,) and the stud mills located at Coquille and Toledo, Or., produced 43 million feet of lumber, down slightly from the 55 million feet of 1978.

An early buyer of timberland on the West Coast, having started doing so in the mid 1940s, G-P is no longer a big factor in lumber production on the West Coast, other than the redwood region. This is partly due to an FTC settlement in 1973. In addition, environ- mental and log supply problems stirred company management to look at the South in the 1960s and earlier.

The developer of the Southern pine plywood industry gradually diversified into softwood and hardwood lumber throughout the South and Southeast. As a result. nearlv 850/o of its lumber now comes from that region. This is not too surprising considering the remarks of its then chairman of the board in the early 1970s and reviewed here at that time. The growth of the forest products industry in the South can also be measured by shipments of Southern pine plywood; in 1965, only 3olo of the plywood came from that region while today it is 400/0. Fewer environmental problems, timberlands in private hands, good growing sites and abundant rainfall - all these contributed to the rise of the South as an increasingly important factor in lumber production.

In fourth place is Boise Cascade Corp. of Boise, Id. With national sales offices at Portland. Or.. the bulk of Boise's domestic production comes from the Tri-State area of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The largest site is Yakima, Wa., which produced 112 million feet of lumber in 1979. Lumber has been sawed at the site since 1903 and quite recently Boise added a small log mill. Elgin, Or., produced 85 million feet, up 27 million feet from 1978. Abderdeen, Wa., dropped 12 million feet from 1978 and the Joseph, Or., site dropped 7 million feet. These mills ship only rough green lumber and serve as "feeders" to other Boise mills. Because ofthe high start-up costs of adding dry kiln and planer equipment, Boise finds it more economical to ship this lumber to other Boise plants.

Goldendale, Wa., was up nearly 100/o over 1978 to almost 29 million feet; Clatskanie, Or., was down about 1.6 million feet. The Horseshoe Bend, Id., output was nearly unchanged at 69 million feet and the Kettle Falls, Wa., site, near the Canadian border, spit out 63 million feet. Production at White City and Medford, Or., stayed almost constant in the 45 to 47 million foot range each. Thus, Boise was able to report output at 803 million feet, down from the 852 million feet of 1978.

Well-known Champion International, number five, produced

(Continued on next page)

The Top Ten

1919 Rank Firm

(1) Weyerhaeuser Co.

Tacoma, Wa.

Q) Louisiana-Pacific Portland, Or.

(3) Georgia-Pacific Portland, Or.

W Boise Cascade Boise, ld.

(5) Championlnternational Stamford, Cn.

(6)

In Lumber Production

How About Ol' Whatzizname?

There are a lot of mills that produce a lot of lumber, but are still not big enough to qualify for the top ten. In 1979, for example, there were nearly 1500 mills that sawed lumber in the United States. Of

NAME

Diamond Internalional, Red Bluff, Ca. Publishers' Paper Co., Portland, Or. Roseburg Lumber Co., Roseburg, Or.

Masonite Corp., Chicago, Il. Willametle Industries, Portland, Or. Bohemia, Inc., Eugene, Or.

Southwest Forest Industries. Phoenix. Az. Simpson Timber Co., Seattle, Wa. Wickes Forest Industries, Dinuba, Ca.

Bendix Forest Products, San Francisco, Ca. Seneca Sawmill Co., Eugene, Or. Pope and Talbot, Portland, Or.

Mountain Fir Lumber Co.. Salem. Or.

Eel River Sawmills, Fortuna, Ca. Arcata Redwood Co., Arcata, Ca.3

Brooks-Scanlon. Bend. Or.a

Pacific Lumber Co., San Francisco, Ca.

Hampton Lumber Co., Portland, Or.5 course, there's no practical way we could list them all here (assuming, of course, that you would stay long enough to read allof them!). In any event, to satisfy some of your curiosity, we included here some of the larger West Coast mills that ship heavily to the West Coast. Perhaps you

Stimson Lumber Co., Portland, Or. Avison Lumber Co., Molalla, Or. Kaibab Industries, Phoenix, Az.

Davidson Industries, Mapleton, Or.

Harwood Products, Branscomb, Ca.

McNamara & Peepe, Crescent City, Ca.

Rosboro Lumber Co., Springfield, Or.

Manke Lumber Co., Tacoma, Wa.

(l) Figures include production by Publishers al Burney, Ca., sawmill which was sold to Sierra-Pacific in 1979.

Includes production by Kimberly-Clark at Shasta and Anderson, Ca., purchased by Roseburg in 1979.

Includes production of Simonson Lumber Co. purchased by Arcata Redwood Co.; Simonson is now operating as Arcata Lumber Co.

Firm has been sold to Diamond International Corp.

Firm actually operates as Willamina Lumber Co., Willamina, Or. Sales are handled through Hampton Lumber Sales Co., but both are owned by same individual.

(Continued from previous page) almost 746 million feet of lumber in 1979. down from the 824 million of 1978. Production increased almost 5 million feet at Bonner, Mt., to a total of 100 million feet. The McCloud, Ca., facility, row p€rfild: nently closed, pushed out almost 97 million feet in its final year, down from the 116 million feet of 1978. Because of a shift from large old- growth logs to smaller second growth material, the plant became uneconomical. Old timers in the industry will remember with fondness the fine lumber that shipped from McCloud when it was operated as the Mccloud Lumber Co. Champion's Neal Creek, Or., site produced only 55 million feet in 1979. down from the 70 million of 1978. Darby, Mt., also reported a drop to 45 million feet from the 6l

Looki Ahead How Ghanges Will Affect Rankings

llr ILL THERE be further uu changes in the years ahead? Or have the big gotten so large that they will remain in their present positions for the next several years?

That's a question that we frequently ask ourselves. As we dug into the numbers behind the numbers this year, we did, indeed, come up with some surprises. Of course, any speculation here is a little chancy, because we did not talk to every major mill, but we thought you would be interested in looking ahead with us, to see what the future holds.

Weyerhaeuser Co. is as big as the figures show. But, as was mentioned above, it is the only company whose production figures include its Canadian production. At this time, there is no way to separate those figures, that is, Canadian from U.S. production. But, since this survey is supposed to look only at domestic production, the figures are somewhat distorted. How much? That's hard to say. Will it change its positioning? Probably not.

Georgia-Pacific Corp. is also anticipating production increases. Fort Bragg, Co., did produce 174,000,000 feet this year. But with certain changes that took place in late 1979 and others anticipated in early 1981, that mill should be producing at the rate of 200,000,000 feet per year eventually. (That's quite a change from the 121,000,000 ten years earlier when Boise Cascade owned it in 1969.) In addition, the firm is anticipating another 34,000,000 feet of capacity at new sites in North Carolina and Mississippi. The former should be operating now and the latter is expected to start up in the fourth quarter.

Champion's production will drop by 110 million feet through the loss of mills at McCloud, Co., and Roseburg, Or. However, the comp(Please turn to page 56) million feet of 1978. The Roseburg, Or.. "Golden Stud" mill (now also closed) produced only 13 million feet, down from the 33 million feet of 1978. Champion's mill at Anderson, Ca., (81 million feet) continues to operate as does Morton, Wa.. (37 million feet) and the Neal Creek, Or., site.

San Francisco-headquartered Potlatch Corp., reported a total (Please turn to page 57)

Looki Back

What lt Was Like Ten Years Ago

UU/ E'VE BEEN doing this series lu of articles for The Iu[erchant Ivfugazine for about ten years now. But we have followed this lumber survey for twenty years, believe it or not.

So, on the occasion of our more or less tenth anniversary, we thought we would take a look back and see what it was like then.

Number l, then as now, was Weyerhaeuser Co. However, in 1969, the firm produced "only" I billion, 800 million feet. And, that was up 200,000,000 feet over 1968.

In second place was GeorgiaPacific with I billion, 166 million feet in 1969, up sharply from the 811 million of 1968. Not long before that you'll remember G-P had bought the Frank Crawford Lumber Co. at Ukiah, Ca. Fort Bragg was still owned by BoiseCascade. And the spin-off of Louisiana-Pacific? Nobody had even heard of L-P in 1969. That would come in 1973.

Third place was Boise-Cascade Corp. Boise sawed 919 million feet in 1969. Olson-Lawyer Lumber was operating at White City and hadn't been purchased by Boise yet. That year O-L produced 53 million feet. Before that it was Olson-Ross and in the mid-50s Olson-Ross was Ross Lumber Co. But now we're going back a little too far?

Fourth place was Potlatch Corp. with 601.000.000. Not much to report there.

Fifth place was Champion. But then it was known as U.S. Plywood and it sawed 470 million feet in 1969, up from the 424 million of 1968. And there were sawmills at Gold Beach and Mapleton, Or., all long since gone.

Sixth place was up and coming (Please turn to page 56)