The Alaska wood products industry 1998 sawmill survey

In 1998, the Forest Service, University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service, and the Alaska Department of Commerce jointly funded a survey of Alaska sawmills, which was conducted by the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska Anchorage. This paper discusses the survey and its results. The 1998 survey covered mill capacity, employment, total production, production by type of product and export or domestic sale, log consumption by species and original timber ownership, chip and residue production, information on suppliers and customers, and several questions about the timber industry in general. It focused on data for calendar year 1997. Some principal findings were: Our respondents reported a design capacity of about 240 MMBF annually, almost 200 MMBF of that capacity in Southeast Alaska. They reported that the practical capacity of their mills was somewhat lower - about 205 MMBF statewide, with 174 MMBF in Southeast. In 1997, production ranged from 20 MBF to 20,000 MBF. Most firms produced less than 1,000 MBF, and aggregate production was about 67,000 MBF. About 55 percent of products were exported and 45 percent sold domestically. About 55 percent of exports were dimensional lumber and 40 percent cants. Domestic sales were 70 percent dimensional lumber and 20 percent cants. Of the 27 mills that answered the down time questions, 13 reported no down time due to supply problems. Five firms reported that they lost one day per week or more - up to over half of their total possible time - to lack of supply; the remaining 9 reported just a few days each year. Tongass timber accounted for about 90 percent of all the log consumption reported statewide, and over 98 percent of Southeast firms' logs. Elsewhere, privately owned timber provides almost half of Southcentral sawmills' supply, and over 10 percent of Interior sawmills' logs, with the remainder of wood in those regions coming primarily from state land. Most mill residue (about 85 percent) is sold (for landscaping and bedding) or used for energy rather than landfilled or burned. In the last section of the survey, we asked several open-ended questions and solicited comments. About half the mills responding in Southeast and interior reported supply problems, and 4 out of 5 Southcentral mills did. The most common suggestion for government help was more state and local timber sales. Almost half the respondents believed government could help the industry most by providing a dependable timber supply and providing more sales Although many respondents would have liked to produce dried lumber, most mills had not and few had plans to do so. Many responses cited high costs as the reason. Despite these concerns about costs, the most common new product plan was to obtain a kiln for drying lumber. Two thirds of the mills thought it was feasible for Alaska to manufacture more value added products, but half of those respondents worried about costs, supply and access to markets.