C
I N T R A F O R
Working Paper 97
Resource
Inventory, Market Assessment and Analysis for Forest Products in Clallam and
John Perez-Garcia
March 2005
This project
was established to examine current viable opportunities for the expansion of
the wood products industry in Clallam and Jefferson counties. The study updated existing and future harvest
level projections in Clallam and Jefferson counties, highlighting the potential
new supplies. It also examined precommercial
thinning volumes on state and federal lands.
The harvest level findings are used to complete an analysis including
the flow, species and size of the raw material supply required to manufacture
value-added products. Three
opportunities are explored: Oriented strand board production utilizing harvest
and current manufacturing waste material, biomass-based energy production, and
second tier value-added products from production of random length alder.
We projected
harvest levels using timber harvest data by grade and species provided by the
Department of Revenue Timber Tax Division and the Department of Natural
Resources Marketing Division. These data
provided a breakout of average volumes per acre by species and grade observed
for timber sales in 2004. We applied the
average volumes per acre to a projection of harvest acres constructed by
Atterbury Consultants and published in their report for the council dated
2000. The analysis of the sales data
indicated an average volume of nearly 40 thousand board feet (mbf) per
acre. The majority of this volume is in
#2 and #3 sawmill logs; over 15 mbf in each log class. The next highest volume is in the #4 sawmill
log with 7.5 mbf. The greatest volume
per acre is in western hemlock with over 15 mbf, followed by Douglas fir with
8.8 mbf. An estimated 8,070 acres are
harvested annually during the projection period 2000 to 2004. Using the per acre averages calculated above
we determined annual harvest levels to reach 322,265 mbf during this
period. For the period 2015 to 2020,
harvest acres are projected to reach 8,618 with an estimated annual harvest
level of 344,148 mbf.
The majority
of the annual harvest level during the period 2000-2004 is in #2 and #3 sawmill
logs, over 300,000 mbf equally distributed.
Western hemlock annual harvest levels are 124,236 mbf, followed by
Douglas fir with 71,293 mbf. Red alder
annual harvests are estimated at 22,849 mbf during the period 2000 to 2004.
Timber
consumed by local mills amounted to 122,033 mbf for 2002, with an estimated
slightly higher consumption for 2004.
Total consumption of Clallam and Jefferson county timber by
The annual
volume of precommercial thinning is estimated at 125,000 to 180,000 green tons
from federal and state lands. The
majority of this thinned material is on State lands involving 4,000 to 6,000
acres annually for the next decade. The
majority of the thinning volume is not commercial due to restrictions imposed
by terrain conditions that lead to prohibitive harvesting and extraction costs.
Oriented
Strand Board (OSB) represents a product that utilizes low grade materials to
produce a substitute for plywood. First
generation OSB manufacturing plants were about 50 million square feet 3/8 inch
basis in size. Newer generation plants
(continuous flow) are much larger in size; the latest plant capable of
producing 800 million square feet 3/8 inch basis. The majority of new plants have a capacity of
500 million square feet 3/8 inch basis.
Resource availability converting the volume of #4 sawmill and utility
grade logs into chip materials was estimated at 492,000 green tons, or about
enough material to produce 313 million square feet 3/8 inch basis of OSB. At most the projections reached 335 million
square feet by 2020. Since the volume of
required materials is much smaller than what a competitive new facility would
consume, the potential for a new OSB plant in the region was determined early
on during the study to be non-existent.
Other limitations were also evident including the lack of sufficient
hardwood resources, and the fact that current uses of chip materials and
lower-sized saw logs would decrease the availability of raw materials to the
new plant.
Biomass-based
energy can be produced by burning wood waste.
To evaluate this option we first determined the fuel value of materials
in the region. If a sufficient fuel
value was present, we then estimated the competitiveness of the material for
use in energy production. To determine
the fuel value of the materials in the region we estimated the size of a
potential power plant by converting the volume of #4 saw mill and utility logs
into green tons. This conversion
indicated that the power plant sizes could ranged from 37 to 45 megawatts,
representing substantial amounts of energy production. We then calculated the competitiveness
aspects of the material if it were used to produce energy. Plants of these sizes in
The utilization
of red alder has increased dramatically, and the projected start of a new alder
mill in 2006 suggested analyzing potential value-added products such as
cabinetry, furniture and door manufacturing.
We conducted interviews with the new mill manager and regional end-users
of alder and determined constraints associated with attracting a value-added
facility to the region. The constraints
identified during these interviews included the inability to diversify products
should a new manufacturing plant focus exclusively on alder. Various wood species are used in cabinetry,
door and furniture manufacture.
Currently alder is well received, but demand is highly responsive to changes
in consumer preferences. Diversification
of various species is perceived to be an important aspect of a successful
end-user. The success of a value-added
manufacturer will depend on its ability to utilize various sources of lumber
and other materials.
Our study
findings included the following. The two
county region is a net exporter of wood fiber.
The recent announcement of plans for a new sawmill in the
We recommend
that future work analyze the potential for expanding the existing softwood lumber
sawmill capacity in the region. The
volume of sawmill logs that are exported from the area is estimated at less
than 100,000 mbf and is insufficient for a modern large mill, which can be
twice as big. Expanding the sawmilling
capacity of the existing mills may provide benefits for the local region and
enhance their competitiveness with mills outside of the region that currently
successfully bid for local timber. The
announced plans for a new mill in the