Comments and Questions from Employees
"What is PRT doing to weather the current downturn in the forest seedling industry?"
The forest industry's response to poor lumber demand in the US has been to reduce lumber inventories, roll back production, and reduce costs. The decrease in harvesting and aggressive cost reduction has decreased silviculture programs. Across the market areas we serve, we estimate a reduction of 20% to 30% in annual seedling demand since 2006. PRT's reaction will be multifaceted and will include:
- decreasing production in line with demand,
- temporarily shuttering or scaling back capacity at nurseries,
- continued effort in alternate seedling markets, and
- implementing appropriate cost cutting measures.
Our job today is to stay focused on what we do well, and that is to continue to reliably provide healthy and fast-growing seedlings and to look for innovation in products and production that best meet the needs of our customers. Our continuous improvement is what has made us leaders in our industry and will be required to maintain that leadership. Our overriding goal is to maintain our team and our physical resources in a way that will keep us ready for a return to higher seedling demand.
And in terms of demand, there’s some great news on the horizon. Wood is finally gaining traction as “the” truly renewable resource. Wood products are very close to being carbon-neutral, and the world is noticing! The manufacture of steel studs for a single house releases almost five tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. On the other hand, wood framing fixes or removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is true provided that the wood comes from forests that are regenerated and sustainable. And guess what? North America is a world leader in certified, sustainable forestry. This will become a significant market advantage as the full price of carbon emissions (and other environmental factors) comes to bear through carbon taxes or emissions caps. This is great news for our customers, and therefore for us too, so I ask for your help to spread the word.
