LUFKIN, TEXAS – Charlie Pringle, a representative from Rayonier, addressed the future of the forest products industry during the Texas Forestry Association’s 100th annual meeting, Wednesday morning, Oct. 22, 2014.
Pringle shared Rayonier’s business overview and their outlook on the timber industry. As an international real estate investment trust (REIT) committed to creating value through excellence in forest resources and in real estate, Rayonier tries to manage their holdings as responsibly as possible to achieve the highest and best value.
At this time, Pringle noted that Rayonier is the third-largest timber REIT with 2.6 million acres of high-quality timberland and has developed a geographic diversity, holding over 2.5 million acres along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf states, Pacific Northwest, and internationally in New Zealand.
Much closer to home, Rayonier has invested $289 million in Texas since 2006, currently holds 286,000 acres, and has an office in Lufkin.
Pringle continued to share Rayonier’s outlook on the timber industry, showing an improving housing outlook through the next three years will drive a return to the historical fifty/fifty split in the market between pulpwood and sawlog demand. Pringle predicts that the need for sawlogs will rise with the housing market over the next three years.
Looking internationally, as China’s housing demand grows, so will the need for North American timber, with urban households expected to grow by five million per year through the next twenty years. To meet this need, China will most likely turn to foreign imports to help meet this demand, according to Pringle.
Holding over 600,000 acres in the pacific northwest and in New Zealand and access to strong ports in both, Pringle showed that Rayonier is poised to take advantage of the gap between need and source.
Pringle also addressed the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation in the Northwest and British Columbia, Canada, where losses to lodgepole pine is expected rise over 50 per cent. The expected drop in northern timber harvests has led to Canadian investments in southern timber. This also means more sawmill production as the demand for Southern timber products grows.
Pringle addressed an audience gathered to hear about the current outlook on the timber industry, as well as its future from leaders in the industry. The meeting is part of the Texas Forestry Association’s 100th year as the voice of forestry during the anniversary celebration, Oct. 21-23, 2014.
