Timber is one of Georgia’s largest industries, but some aspects of the industry are suffering, which prompted U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) to participate this week in a forum on lumber prices.
Republicans on the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held the forum. Their purpose was to examine the rising prices of lumber and home production, as well as the closing of more than 1,000 sawmills between 2004 to 2018, Hice told his constituents in an emailed newsletter.
“As you may know, timber is one of the largest industries in Georgia’s 10th District, and the prices of timber are the lowest we’ve seen in over 50 years. While this is great for the sawmills producing lumber out of timber, in the end, the timber grower and the consumer are suffering for it. The free market has been knocked off kilter,” Hice wrote.
“The number of sawmills in the South has nearly been cut in half since 2000. Furthermore, out of the 250 that still exist today, one-third are controlled by Canadian companies who take many of their profits back across our northern border.”
Marshall Thomas, president of the Albany-based F&W Forestry, said during this week’s hearing that timber growers are growing more than 50 percent of what is converted into lumber. This means there is much more room for manufacturing mills in the South on top of the existing 250.
Hice said the current flow of timber to lumber is negatively impacting local economies.
“Homes are more expensive to build due to the prices of lumber, and that has begun to lead to a housing shortage,” Hice said.
“Simultaneously, producers are also dealing with more timber than they know what to do with.”
Thomas told panel members to increase the timber and lumber trade with China to decreasethe surplus currently occurring intheSouth.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
