August 2025

Just in the past nine months, major log-consuming mills have closed at Cedar Springs, Ga., Campti, La., and Georgetown, SC: That’s more than 5% of U.S. containerboard capacity right there.

And those closures come on the heels of 22 pulp and paper closure announcements beginning in 2020 and running through 2023. Combined, those represent 30 million green tons a year in log and chip consumption. There’s less roundwood usage overall, and more recycling taking up the slack.

(As an aside here and because we have insights developed through our other publications, I’d advise lumber operators to keep a close eye on the health of their supply chains as loggers directly affected by these closures are under tough financial pressure, having to move pulpwood longer distances and many taking a hit with load quotas at the same time.)

Maintaining markets for all segments of the natural resource is critical for overall forest health and a vibrant forest economy. From processing sawlogs up to fiber logs and even firewood and hog fuel top material, full utilization is key to realizing the potential of wood as a preferred structural, industrial and bioenergy resource.

For timberland owners, especially, the certainty of timber markets decades into the future is hugely important when it comes to making investments in the resource, planting seedlings and managing timberland today.

A prime example is South Carolina, where in 2023-2024 multiple forest products manufacturing facilities announced closures or cutbacks, including major fiber log market closures at Pactiv Evergreen (Canton, NC just across the state line), West-Rock at North Charleston and International Paper at Georgetown. A state report noted the closures accounted for 25% of overall South Carolina wood markets, leaving a big opportunity for small log operations that consume pulp-type wood.

And while there’s lots of pulpwood-class timber in South Carolina looking for a home right now, within say five years a significant amount of that timber is growing into Chip-N-Saw size and larger age classes that can supply solid wood markets.

Hampton Lumber is well-positioned to benefit from the enhanced timber availability in the state, as the company recently announced a new sawmill in South Carolina that’s scheduled to come on line in early 2027.

The changes in the pulp and paper industry are indeed driving opportunities for producers of other products, most notably for small log operations like pellets and OSB now but increasingly into solid wood facilities in the future.

The South Carolina report also noted the opportunity the state has to be a leader in new and developing wood markets for energy, transportation and agriculture products.

Changes in the paper industry that are closing long-established pulpwood markets are providing not only an opportunity for other companies to repurpose those log loads for their own facilities, but also the opportunity to repurpose and reinvent the forest industry supplying cleaner, more sustainable and in many cases higher value end products.