Following the Logs: China Wastes Much Of
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C M C M Y K Y K I WANT TO KNOW BATTLE OF PIRATES Residents raise noise about helicopters, A2 Pacific boys top Marshfield, B1 Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 theworldlink.com I 75¢ Attorney confirms What happens to search at Kustom all those logs? Products BY JESSIE HIGGINS The World COOS BAY — A federal prose- cutor confirmed on Monday that agents last week searched the business of a local family indicted on federal fraud charges. Agents from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the IRS and other agencies searched Kustom Prod- ucts Inc., 1084 S. Fifth St., on Thursday for evidence the compa- ny trafficked in counterfeit mili- tary goods, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Hoar. Kustom Products’ owner, Harold Ray Bettencourt II, and several of his family members were indicted in December 2011 on charges of wire fraud, fraud and money laundering. They all plead- World Photo by Lou Sennick ed not guilty; their trial is set to A local timber executive followed a load of logs from the Bay Area to China, and found that much of the timber leaving here is used to make forms for pouring concrete. start Jan. 26. China plans to start as many as 12 million housing units a year for the next five years. Counterfeit parts The Bettencourts’ indictment alleges the company sold “non- China wastes much of conforming, defective and coun- Following the logs: terfeit parts” to the Department of what Bay Area exports Defense on at least 392 contracts with a total value of $7.5 million. I A timber executive rural areas to cities. It plans 12 Right now, Frings added, it’s change while the ship is under Hoar said his office received a million housing starts a year for good to be a log trader. way, depending, for example, on followed his company’s the next five years. the cost of bunker fuel for the SEE SEARCH | A8 And to build those concrete Big risk, big reward ship. logs to China and found buildings, Frings learned, China “In the forest products busi- “If things start going south, some surprises needs our logs. ness here, we’re all kind of average they renegotiate,”Frings said. Eighty per- Joes, but there Although this fluidity is hard County cent of the logs they’re wearing for Western businesspeople to get BY GAIL ELBER China imports Feeding the dragon sport coats used to, Chinese log buyers put a The World from the China absorbs 25-33 percent of the every day and lot of effort into maintaining their Northwest are driving BMWs.” reputations with the sawmill jobless COOS BAY — When a tree falls world’s timber exports, buying 27 billion turned into That’s owners they sell to. in Oregon, what happens in board feet in 2009, mostly in the form of low -quality logs. because the “If you’re a log seller and you China? lumber that is For comparison, the entire timber pro- controlled don’t do right by the sawmills, In March, Bill Frings, senior rate 10.8 used to make duction of the United States in 2009 was economy you won’t last long,”Frings said. resource manager for Plum Creek’s forms for pour- 23.4 billion board feet. makes it easy Oregon Unit, followed a shipload of ing concrete In the late 1980s, U.S. softwood log for business- Wasteful process his company’s logs across the buildings, and exports to China peaked at nearly 7 mil- men to find In China’s mammoth ports, a percent Pacific to learn how his company furring strips lion cubic meters, then dropped off to markets. ship that would take six-seven could do more business there. for hanging nearly zero while U.S. construction “If the gov- days to unload in a U.S. port can Thursday night, he shared drywall inside boomed in the 1990s and 2000s. ernment be unloaded in three days. some of his findings with the Coos THE WORLD those build- When the U.S. housing market collapsed decides, ‘We But the process has wasteful Bay chapter of the Society of ings. in 2008, exports began to rise again, need some eco- aspects, Frings said. American Foresters. reaching 5 million cubic meters in 2010. COOS BAY — Coos County About 15 nomic develop- Cranes dump the logs in a gov- Even before he got off the plane China once got most of its logs from gained 150 jobs in August, leaving percent of the ment in this ernment-owned log yard “like in Beijing, Frings had sniffed out forms lumber Russia, but in 2008, Russia imposed an area,’ there’s a pick-up sticks,” he said, and a it with 100 more jobs than it had a one of the factors that’s shaping export tariff to discourage exports of raw year ago, the Oregon Employment can be reused. big demand for fleet of rickety wheel loaders China’s economy: smog. The rest is dis- logs, with the goal of helping its domestic lumber over wrestles them into manageable Department reported Monday. “I could taste the air,”he said. lumber industry. This spring, Russia In August, industries that carded, possi- ‘here,’ and not piles. China’s smog pervades not bly burned for announced it would discontinue the tariff so much over At Thursday’s meeting, Frings’ added jobs included construction only the cities but the agricultural so it could join the World Trade (+20); transportation, warehous- heat. ‘there,’” Frings audience of foresters winced as he regions too — staining buildings, Organization, so it’s expected to regain a said. showed them a photo of a pile of ing and utilities (+20); profession- withering crops and — undoubt- In China, log share of the Chinese market. al and business services (+20); imports are “So if you’re broken and mangled logs. edly — slowing the growth of tim- Other exporters to China include “They start with a 16-inch log, educational and health services ber species. handled by an Canada, which sells China its low-quality a first mover (+30); and leisure and hospitality army of small into that mar- but it’s a lot smaller when it gets to Frings said the corrosive beetle-killed timber, and New Zealand. the sawmill because of all the (+30). atmosphere limits the lifespan of a traders, whose ket and you can Businesses are employing 290 business is keep your rolling around,”Frings said. concrete apartment building in The logs are loaded onto trucks, more people than they were a year China to about 20 years. governed by both custom and reg- finances together, you will be set ago, and government agencies are ulation. for a long time.” which are well endowed with employing 190 fewer. Concrete needs wood Transformers decals, but not so “If you’re a log trader, you Although the deal for a well equipped with safety devices, Seasonally adjusted unemploy- China needs a lot of those come from this one town,”Frings shipload of logs might have been apartment buildings to house the said. “If you’re a mason, you come negotiated before the ship left SEE JOBLESS | A8 population that’s migrating from from another area.” North Bend, the terms sometimes SEE LOGS | A8 Premium hikes on the horizon for Medicare drug plans BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR scription drug coverage will stay increases for all top 10 prescription Plan (12 percent); and Humana The new AARP plan is run by The Associated Press the same in 2013, at $30 a month. drug plans, known as PDPs. Enhanced (11 percent). UnitedHealth Group Inc., the The administration’s number is However, the most popular plan — Another two plans in the top 10 nation’s largest health insurance WASHINGTON — Seniors accurate as an overall indicator for AARP MedicareRx Preferred — is also had single-digit increases. company. United pays AARP for enrolled in seven of the 10 most the entire market, but not very only going up 57 cents per month They were the SilverScript Basic (8 the right to use its name on a range popular Medicare prescription helpful to consumers individually nationally, to $40.42 from the cur- percent) and WellCare Classic (3 of Medicare insurance products, a drug plans will be hit with double- since it doesn’t reflect price swings rent $39.85. percent). successful business strategy that digit premium hikes next year if in the real world. The seven plans with double- On the plus side for consumers, has proven lucrative for both part- they don’t shop for a better deal, “The average senior is going to digit premium increases were: the a new low-cost plan entered the ners. When Humana and Walmart says a private firm that analyzes the benefit by carefully scrutinizing Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx market. Premiums for the AARP teamed up to offer their low-cost highly competitive market. their situation, because every year Plan (23 percent); First Health Part MedicareRx Saver Plus Plan will plan in 2011, United felt the com- The report Monday by Avalere the market changes,” Avalere D Premier (18 percent); First Health average $15 a month nationally, petition. Health is a reality check on the President Dan Mendelson said. Part D Value Plus (17 percent); although it won’t be available “There is a real focus on the Obama’s administration’s upbeat Avalere crunched the numbers Cigna Medicare Rx Plan One (15 everywhere. That’s $3.50 less than premium in this market,” pronouncements. Back in August, based on bid documents that the percent); Express Scripts the current low-cost leader, the Mendelson said.