West Fraser has retained its title of being the world’s largest softwood lumber producer in 2011 with 4.91 billion BF (7.9 million m3), followed by Weyerhaeuser with 3.59 billion BF, slightly outpacing Canfor, according to WOOD Markets Monthly International Report as researched by International WOOD MARKETS Group.

At Louisiana Hardwood Products (LHP), an abundance of short length material was creating bottlenecks and jam ups at the edger infeed. Two operators were required to run the edger system: one monitored and facilitated the flow at the top of the unscrambler, while the other manned the operator’s cab and could override the optimizer’s decisions based on the grade of each piece.

When it comes to business, Gary Webber isn’t sentimental. The thought of being the guy who might be able to reverse the fortunes of Clary Lumber, a family owned company that has had roots in the community of Gaston since the 1940s, was more about opportunity. “I really wasn’t thrilled about working for a single-family entity, but what attracted me here was the opportunity,” states Webber, 62, a veteran of more than 40 years in the forest products industry.

Operating a long-existing fuel pellet and fire log plant at its headquarters and a newer, 5-year-old pellet plant nearby, major West Coast pellet producer West Oregon Wood Products offers a diverse line of products. In business 27 years, West Oregon Wood Products sells its signature Hot Shots and Blazer line of fuel pellets, plus High Energy fire logs and Noah’s Choice animal bedding.

ASM manufactures new edgers and edger feed systems to fit a wide range of specific applications and budgets for the softwood and hardwood markets. ASM offers both manual and optimized edger systems that feature full heavy tubular steel framework, top quality components and the same precision manufacturing that goes into all ASM products.

You may have read the results of our annual Sawmill Capital Expenditure Survey in the last issue of Timber Processing magazine. The results covered responses from mills owners and managers in both the softwood lumber and hardwood lumber sectors. If you’ll recall, both groups were fairly positive about the immediate future of their businesses, with 51% of softwooders expecting business to be good or excellent in 2013-2014, while 43% of hardwooders said the same.

A new high-resolution scanning system has taken over grading at Charles Ingram Lumber Co.’s planer in Effingham, SC. Despite the depressed lumber market, the mill has made a substantial investment in technology by purchasing Lucidyne’s automated grading system, GradeScan, to take over their process. The biggest challenge facing any mill is consistently capturing the most value from dimension and appearance products while human graders are pushed to maintain high volumes.