Sawmilling Technology Application in Commodity Products
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Sawmilling Technology Application in Commodity Products Kenneth A. Kilborn1 Sawmill Assistance Service Anchorage, Alaska Abstract To understand the current sawmill technology application situation in Alaska, it is helpful to have some knowledge of the history of sawmilling in this State. When one sees how hard it was to get a forest industry started in Alaska and how dependent the industry was for an overseas market, then it is not so surprising that advancement in this industry has been slow. USDA Forest Service was very instrumental in getting a sizeable industry established through the long-term sale agreements with the two producers of pulp. There was still little lumber produced for the local markets and in 1965 the Forest Service, Alaska Region, established a position of Forest Products Specialist to aid the industry to meet the needs of the smaller sawmill operators who were interested in supplying material to the local market. Today there are only about thirty sawmills actively producing lumber for domestic construction. There are at least 200 additional sawmills in the State, but they are producing very small quantities of lumber or they are idle waiting for a better market. There is no special formula to what is needed by the industry to produce quality products and now with individuals gaining the technical knowledge and having the necessary capital, it is happening. There seems to be three sizes of operations in the 30 active sawmills in Alaska. Mills producing near 250 thousand board feet (MBF) of lumber and house logs with one to two employees and about $120,000 investment. Mills producing near 1000 MBF of lumber products with three to five employees and about $300,000 investment. Mills producing 10,000 MBF and over, with ten or more employees and an investment of over $2,500,000. History The Journal of Forestry, June 1960, Volume 58, Number 6 has many good articles on the history of the forest products industry in Alaska with references about wood products uses since Russian occupation of Sitka. Following are a few excerpts from an article by Archie M. Buyers who was formerly woods manager, Alaska Lumber and Pulp Company, Inc. at Sitka. “Today the timber industry in Alaska is beginning to develop the potential that has been dormant while waiting favorable economic conditions. Ten years ago the annual log scale in Alaska was less than 100 million board feet. In 1960 it should reach five times that and the value of the products shipped from Alaska’s forests will probably be ten times what it was in 1950.” The Post-War Period. “...establishment of both mills and logging operations would require the attraction of competent labor....” Recent Expansion. “...the forest industry in Alaska today: dissolving pulp mills at Ketchikan and Sitka with daily capacities of 575 and 340 tons respectfully, older sawmills at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, and Sitka, and a second sawmill, specializing in the production of kiln-dried hemlock lumber, nearly complete at Wrangell . ” 1 Team Leader of the Alaska Wood Utilization R&D Center, USDA FS Pacific Northwest Research Station as of December 1999. 59 Outlook. “...a possibility of increased diversification in use and products. Because of the transportation cost and other economic difficulties, there is some tendency to cut the upper log grades in plants closest to the point of production rather than at the plant best equipped to convert them. No profitable sustained market has yet been found for manufacturing western redcedar or Alaska-cedar therefore, some cedar log export has been permitted. It seems likely that the timber industry in Southeast Alaska will stabilize in roughly 10 years’ time (1970) with one small and three large pulp mills and about a half dozen sawmills with a total annual log requirement of about 800 million board feet. ....a stable industry using 800 million board feet of wood annually can be expected to employ directly about 4000 workers and have an annual product value in excess of 130 million dollars. These are certainly destined to be impressive figures in the Alaskan economy for many years. “...interior spruce-birch-aspen boreal forest. There has been no industrial activity in this forest except small local sawmill ventures and the cutting of mine timbers and other minor forest products. ... no major industry will be based on this resource for at least 25 years.” The Handloggers by W. H. Jackson (1974) with Ethel Dassow is another good historical source of how the industry in Southeast Alaska got its start. This book explains why, until the start of logging for the pulp mills, there was very little evidence of timber harvesting in Southeast Alaska. It is a story of a young couple that, shortly after getting married, moved to Ketchikan and spent a lifetime as a Handlogger in this great land. USDA Forest Service, Alaska Region’s forest industry assistance program. Until 1965, the assistance given the forest products industry was provided by the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station and the Forest Products Laboratory. From 1965 to 1972, Vernon Clapp was moved to Juneau as the Region’s first Forest Products Specialist. From 1972 to 1974, David Schumann filled the position of Forest Products Specialist for the Region and the position was moved to Anchorage. From 1977 to 1984 and from 1994 to 1997, I (Ken Kilborn) filled this position. The purpose of this position was to transfer technology from research and knowledge from other areas of the country to the forest industry of Alaska. The position required knowledge in timber harvesting, primary and secondary wood products processing, and marketing. Basic understanding of lumber drying, preservative treatments, wood construction, timber bridges, engineered wood products, pulp and paper, and special forest products were also necessary. Current Primary Processing Industry From the history of the forest products industry in Alaska and from my own experience in working with this industry for nearly twelve years, many of the problems mentioned in the article by Archie Buyers are still with us. There are about thirty sawmills with an annual production of between 250,000 and 50,000,000 board feet per year operating in Alaska. There are at least 200 sawmills that are producing less than 250,000 board feet per year. Some of these small production mills are only sawing enough lumber for special projects such as a cabin or house and many are sitting idle waiting for a time when they need more lumber. Most of these small scale-mills are not interested in supplying commodity lumber to the wholesale or retail Alaskan market. The thirty active sawmills have more than adequate capacity to supply the current Alaska market for construction lumber, but most of these mills are not operating at capacity. With the size of the Alaska market for commodity lumber products (approximately 100 million board feet per year) (McDowell Group, 1998) and many mills not operating at capacity, there are still opportunities for additional sawmills to get into this market. I do not see the number of sawmills producing more than 250,000 board feet per year being more than fifty unless one or more of the larger sawmills should go out of business or depend more on the export market for their production. The current timber supply issue and the presently limited export market are definitely two reasons for the small number of active sawmills in the State. 60 Expansion Needs In Primary Processing To produce acceptable lumber for the Alaska commodity market and achieve an acceptable recovery rate in conversion of sawlogs (which is necessary for a profitable operation), a sawmill should consist of a main breakdown saw, a resaw, an edger, a trim saw, either an air drying yard or a dry kiln, a planer, and adequate dry storage. Very few sawmills in Alaska have all this equipment and few have the available capital to purchase the needed equipment. There are still at least two options. Each sawmill can acquire the necessary equipment or by working cooperatively; centralized facilities could do some of the processing for a number of sawmills such as drying, planing, and grading of the lumber. This second practice has worked well in several areas of the world and makes good sense where operators are working with limited capital. On my last trip to Russia forestry officials in Siberia discussed this concept as a way to get quality produced lumber to the market. As in Alaska, Siberia has hundreds of thousands of acres of forested land needing harvesting because of forest health reasons needs to get this land under management. The main problem in Siberia and Alaska is much of the wood material that needs to be harvested is low in quality with most possible markets being chips for pulp or engineered products or as a fuel source. The high quality logs are readily sold to area sawmills or exported. Cost estimates for equipment will look at purchasing new equipment, used equipment, and a combination of new and used equipment. With the number of sawmills in the lower forty-eight states and Canada being reduced (especially in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia) there is good quality used equipment available at reasonable prices. There are several reasons for purchasing new equipment such as manufacturer warranties, assistance in setting up and operating equipment, and usually lower maintenance costs. Often, used equipment comes with no warranty, manufacturers’ assistance or even an operation manual, and can have high installation, operation and maintenance costs depending on condition. This is where a combination of new and used equipment can make sense. Buy equipment of which one has a good working knowledge on the used market and buy new equipment where more technical assistance and assurance are needed.