| Bouncing Up And Down On The Bottom
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter
register-herald.com
West Virginia's forest products industry certainly hasn't been immune to the national economic tailspin, and state Forester Randy Dye sees no immediate relief.
Dye unveiled some grim statistics Monday before the Forest Management Commission, showing major losses within the past four years.
For instance, through the second quarter this year, mills with at least 10 workers have shrunk from 84 to 59, a decline of 30 percent.
In that span, the industry has witnessed the loss of 1,158 employees, while board feet produced slipped from 1,076,800 in 2005 to 669,948.
Eleven mills have gone out of business in those four years and Dye told the legislative panel they are permanent losses, since their equipment has been sold.
Fourteen others have closed at least temporarily, faced with an uncertain future, and 30 mills are operating under an altered schedule.
There are some signs of improvement, however, he told the commission.
Two operations are faring better, including Georgia Pacific, which is functioning at 100 percent at its Mount Hope installation, the forester said.
Housing starts peaked at more than 1.7 million in 2006 but fell dramatically to a low of merely 500,000 nationally, he said.
"That is significant," he said. "But since then, housing starts have come off the bottom and are starting to increase."
Red oak, the major money maker for timber interests, has plummeted in price within the past year, and along with that has been a parallel decline in stumpage.
Commerce Secretary Kelly Goes outlined a number of projects her agency is coordinating to help West Virginia interests move their products overseas.
Over the past five years, she said, her department has worked with the American Hardwood Export Council and the Hardwood States Export Group in promoting exports.
"The market is changing," Goes said.
One problem is that a once reliable customer, China, is getting flooded with logs from Russia, Dye said.
"That has certainly impacted our markets," he said.
Dye said the timber industry is closely linked to the general economy, and the loss of jobs across the nation has made it difficult to build new homes.
"And the collapse of the banking sector has definitely impacted the ability for home mortgages," the forester said.
"Plus the fact that real estate has escalated and was in over supply and came to abrupt halt. So did the forest products industry."
For now, he said, the industry in West Virginia has fallen to the bottom, and the only place to go is up.
"We're bouncing up and down on the bottom," Dye said. "It's just a question if the bounce can continue upward."
Summer typically is the time when the nation witnesses the greatest upswing in home starts, he pointed out.
"One might think we're going to see a decline throughout the next several months as winter approaches and possibly pick up next summer," he added.
E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
register-herald.com
| 
