News & Updates

George W. Varn, Sr., who broke into the family turpentine business following World War II, and then along with a cousin built a chip mill and a sawmill in the late 1960s in Hoboken, Ga., called Varn Wood Products, and who became one of the patriarchs of the southern pine lumber industry, died September 4 in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., the same hospital…

Georgia-Pacific plans to invest $120 million and build a new sawmill at its existing sawmill site in Pineland, Tex. Construction is expected to begin early next year and completed in late 2022. The new sawmill will replace the existing stud mill that was built in the 1960s. The new mill will have the ability to produce 450MMBF of…

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire the Angelina Forest Products (AFP) southern yellow pine sawmill in Lufkin, Tex. for $300 million (U.S.). The new sawmill began construction in 2018, commenced operations in late 2019 and is expected to progress toward full production capacity of more than…

SDS Lumber, including its sawmill and plywood mill at Bigen, Wash., is part of an acquisition involving three purchasing entities. Seattle-based Twin Creeks Timber, LLC, The Conservation Fund, and Carson, Wash.-based Wilkins, Kaiser & Olsen, Inc. (WKO) are acquiring SDS Lumber and Timber Companies…

Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that builds upon the existing collaborative relationship between the SLB and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). SLB and USDA expand a public-private partnership that seeks to grow demand for wood products…

After a downward slip in July, U.S. housing starts, riding a multi-family hike, increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.615 million in August, 3.9% above July and 17.4% over August a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development monthly new…