Home WOODWORKING COMMUNITY Industry News Washington Timber Industry Crisis: Harvest Decline, Mill Closures, and Economic Impact

Washington Timber Industry Crisis: Harvest Decline, Mill Closures, and Economic Impact

Supply Restrictions and Policy Pressures Please

The private sector, which harvests most of the state’s wood, cites restricted access to state trust lands as a major challenge. A recent state decision set aside thousands of acres of older state-owned forests, including land managed for timber, for climate change prevention. A trade association representative argued this move worsens industry instability, while conservation groups supported it. Other small restrictions from natural disturbances and environmental actions have cumulatively reduced the annual timber harvest.

Market Weakness at Home and Abroad

Local demand for lumber has dropped alongside a slowdown in construction activity. Housing starts in the western U.S. have fallen significantly from 2021 to last year. The export market has also diminished, with the state’s forest product exports reaching a 21-year low last year. Trade policies have created uncertainty with tariffs, and a major export market suspended imports of American logs for eight months until late last year.

Economic Ripples and Regional Shifts

Faced with these conditions, some companies are looking to expand outside Washington, with one family-owned forest products company announcing plans to build its first southern sawmill. The threat of mill closures and landowners converting forestland for other uses looms. A sawmill in Centralia recently announced a permanent closure, laying off all employees. Employment in U.S. sawmill and wood preservation sectors is at its lowest point in over a decade. Rural communities are seen as particularly vulnerable to these job losses.

Industry Structure and Local Reliance

The state has millions of acres of forestland, nearly half of which is managed as working forests for commercial wood supply. Private and state players have delivered the bulk of the Washington timber harvest this century, with a state agency accounting for a portion of the market. However, the harvest has declined steadily in recent decades. Many employees at local plants reside in the surrounding counties, and communities rely on these mills for livelihoods.

Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.

# Company Headquarters Focus Scale Note
1 West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. Canada Lumber, panels, pulp Global Major North American producer
2 Canfor Corporation Canada Softwood lumber, pulp Global Large Canadian integrated forest company
3 Weyerhaeuser Company USA Timber, lumber, wood products Global One of world’s largest private timberland owners
4 Stora Enso Oyj Finland Biomaterials, wood products, paper Global Major European forest industry group
5 Interfor Corporation Canada Softwood lumber production North America Significant lumber producer with operations in US & Canada
6 Sierra Pacific Industries USA Lumber, millwork, renewable energy USA Large private US timberland owner and lumber producer
7 Metsä Group Finland Wood supply, wood products, pulp Europe Major Nordic forest industry cooperative
8 Hamburger Group Germany Sawn timber, glued laminated timber Europe Large German wood processing group
9 Binderholz GmbH Austria Solid wood, cross-laminated timber Europe Leading European solid wood producer
10 Kloser Holz GmbH Austria Sawn timber, planed products Europe Major Austrian sawmilling group
11 Mayr-Melnhof Holz Austria Sawn timber, wood-based panels Europe Part of Mayr-Melnhof Group, significant European producer
12 Setra Group Sweden Sawn wood, planed wood products Europe One of Sweden’s largest wood products companies
13 Södra Skogsägarna Sweden Pulp, sawn timber, bioenergy Europe Large Swedish forest-owner association
14 Holzindustrie Schweighofer Austria Sawn timber, pellets, glulam Europe Major producer in Central and Eastern Europe
15 Georgia-Pacific USA Building products, tissue, packaging Global Major US producer of lumber and plywood
16 Tolko Industries Ltd. Canada Lumber, panels, specialty wood products North America Canadian privately-owned forest products company
17 Resolute Forest Products Canada Market pulp, tissue, wood products North America Significant Canadian lumber producer
18 Mercer International Inc. Canada Pulp, lumber, bioenergy North America/Europe Operates sawmills in Germany and Canada
19 Arauco Chile Pulp, panels, sawn timber Global Major Southern Hemisphere producer, global operations
20 Masisa Chile Wood panels, sawn timber Latin America Significant Latin American wood products company
21 Swanson Group USA Lumber, plywood, veneer USA Large private US forest products manufacturer
22 Hampton Lumber USA Softwood lumber production USA/Canada Family-owned US lumber producer with operations in Canada
23 Roseburg Forest Products USA Engineered wood, lumber, panels USA Major private US manufacturer of wood products
24 PotlatchDeltic Corporation USA Timberland, lumber, panels USA Timber REIT with wood products manufacturing
25 Moscow Region Sawmills Russia Sawn softwood production Russia Collective reference to large Russian sawmilling enterprises
26 Segezha Group Russia Sawn timber, plywood, packaging Russia/Europe Major Russian timber holding company
27 Ilim Group Russia Pulp, paper, sawn timber Russia Large Russian forest industry group with sawmilling
28 Stora Enso Timber Finland Sawn timber, value-added wood Europe Sawn wood division of Stora Enso
29 Moelven Industrier ASA Norway Sawn timber, glulam, building systems Scandinavia Major Scandinavian wood industry group
30 Ante-holz GmbH Germany Sawn timber, planed products Europe Large German sawmilling and wood processing company

 

 
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