Structurlam Looks To Reboot
The temporary closure of Structurlam Mass Timber’s Conway, Ark. cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam plant and the apparent severing of the plant’s relationship as a major supplier for Walmart’s new low carbon footprint and energy efficient corporate campus in nearby Bentonville marks yet another growing pain for an industry that’s just getting started realizing its amazing potential.
In 2019 Structurlam announced that the new campus project was to be fed by Structurlam’s new CLT facility that included a $90 million investment to upgrade a former steel mill and convert it to a CLT plant. Structurlam would become the “exclusive supplier of mass timber products” to the new Walmart home office campus, covering 350 acres, two million square feet of floor space and multiple office buildings.
The project moved along, and many were surprised in January this year when Structurlam officials announced the plant would be closing due to a “customer” contract cancellation and that there are no plans to enter into a new commercial agreement with the “customer.”
Structurlam CEO Matthew Karmel refers to it as a “commercial dispute, but we cannot discuss the specifics.” More specifically, according to a source in the CLT industry, the plant may have “overcommitted” to Walmart while dealing with startup issues, and there may have been dispute over product quality or composition. Following the 2021 bankruptcy of Katerra and its CLT plant in Spokane, Wash.—which set out to revolutionize the construction industry using pre-fab building and mass timber construction principles but couldn’t get out of its own way—the mass timber industry had re-gained the momentum, and is definitely expanding as designers, engineers and architects learn more about it.
Karmel says the state-of-the-art Conway plant has met the vigorous startup challenges “with flying colors—its cross-laminated timber and glulam production capabilities already exceed its plan objectives and its processes have been validated repeatedly by the APA to exceed U.S. regulatory standards.” Karmel adds that Structurlam is in a strong position to resume Conway operations and support new customers as the rapid growth of mass timber across North America continues to drive demand for manufacturing capacity.
In May 2022 Structurlam named Karmel as CEO. Prior to joining Structurlam, Karmel served as the CEO of Crenlo Engineered Cabs. Previously, he led other companies in North America and Europe in a broad range of industries, including Klenk Holz AG, the largest sawmills group in Germany, as the company’s CEO & Chairman. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University and completed a general-management executive program at INSEAD Business School in France.
Structurlam operates mass timber manufacturing operations at its home base in Penticton, BC.
Latest News
Pellet Firm Boosts Capacity
Aggressive wood fuel pellet manufacturer-exporter Enviva LP has increased the announced capacity of the pellet plant it has under construction in Ahoskie, NC. The plant’s productive potential has been elevated by 50,000 metric tons per year to 350,000. Using hardwood,...
Global Timber Industry is Active!
Housing Recovery Expected in U.S. A record crowd of 400 timberland owners and managers, forest industry representatives and investment professionals from 14 countries and all across the U.S. recently assembled at the University of Georgia’s 2011 Timberland Investment...
Look Long-Term For Better Markets
Look Long-Term For Better MarketsArticle by Dan Shell, Managing Editor, Timber Processing (2011) The other day I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the world’s largest fuel pellet plant in Waycross, Ga. The Georgia Biomass facility is owned by a large German...
Promoting Ourselves Home And Abroad
Story by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief Last November in this space we informed you that Timber Processing had gone global, adding 1,200 sawmill owners, managers and other lumber industry professionals from outside of North America to our readership list. It has been...
Remember When You Didn’t See It Coming?
Story by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief This issue focuses on our Sawmill Capital Expenditure Survey of softwood and hardwood lumbermen throughout the United States. The results coming out of the survey are quite interesting. I won’t delve into those results in this...
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.
Subscribe/Renew
Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.