Factors affecting themerchandising of hardwood

logs in the southern tier of New York

John E. Wagner

Bryan Smalley

William Luppold'

AbstractIn many areas of the eastern United States, hardwood boles arc sawn into logs and then separated by product before proceeding to

flitiire processing. This type of product merchandising is facilitated by lai^e differences in the relative value ofhardwocxl logs of dif-ferent species and grades. The objective of this study was to analyze the factors Influencing the distribution, consumption, and mer-chandising of hardwood logs. The study area was New York's southern tier, a region w ilh relalively high timber quality and w ith do-mestic and international customers. The study examined 16 hardwood sawmills with annual production ranging from I million toover 20 million board feet per year. While the most important factors considered by these firms when purchasing stiimpage arc gradeand species, transportation distance was also listed as important, but there was no correlation between mill size and procurement dis-tance. In addition, all mills thai purchased stunipagc shipped their grade 2 and better logs lo the mill or yard and then sold cither all orpart of the veneer and export grade sawlogs from the mill. Eleven mills used a large variety of species and all but one of these millslisted stumpage as their main source of logs. The five mills with specific species requirements had a propensity to purchase gate logs.If grade 3 and below grade logs were shipped to the mill, a large pereentage were either resold (as pulp wood, pallet logs, or firewood)or utilized: the remaining were disposed of.

/ogs arc difficult products to clas-sify in economic terms. In some cases,logs can be considered an intcnnediateproduct; a product manufactured within aproduction prwess. This notion is validfor products such as southern yellow pinetimber that is shipped in tree-length formto mills that produce lumber, chips, andbark. In other cases, tree boles arc bucked(sawn into logs) and separated by productbefore priKeeding to future processing,with logs from an individual tree possiblybeing sold to several primary processors.This type of product separation is espe-cially common in hardwood markets dueto the irregular form of most har(.K\xK)dtrees, the diversity of hardwood speciesexisting on an individual site, and varia-

tions in the use and value of different spe-cies and grades of hardwood logs.

BackgroundNormally, hardwood logs are classi-

fied by species and quality. Hardwoodquality is not uniformly defined but tra-ditionally has been characterized intothree grades (Ra.st et al. l')73) and "be-low grade." The higher grade logs gcn-cr:itK vifkl hi^ihcr tjiiiiliu kinibcr. The

highest grades of hardwood logs arc fur-ther separated by additional attributes(such as roundness, color, diameter, etc.)because some primarily hardwood pro-cessors are willing to pay for these sepa-rations. While the species and physicaldifferences may defme a hardwood log,it is the large differences in relative val-ue that make it profitable to separate andmerchandise hardwood logs.' An exam-in; i t ion o l ' t l i i ^ nii-'re'luitidisiiii? s l c p m a y

The authors are, respectively. Associate Professor of Forest Resource Economics, SUNY -College of Environmenta! Sciences and Forestry. 304 Bray Hall, Syracuse. NY; Manager, Pal-let Programs. Timber Produeis Inspection. Inc., Conyers. CiA 30012; and Project Leader,USDA Forest Ser\..Northeustern Res. Sta..24l Mercer Springs Road. Princeton. WV 24740.This paper was received for publieation in April 2003. Aniele No.-TtForest Products Society Member.©Foresl Products Society 2004.

Fore.st Prod. J. 54( I 1 ):y8-102.

9 8 NOVEMBER 2OO4

New York'sSouthern Tier

A

Figure 1. — New York s southern tier.

allow for a more complete understand-ing of the relationship between the priceof hardwood lumber and hardwoodstumpage.

Numerous studies have examined thebackward linked relationship betweentimber sales characteristics and hard-wood stumpage prices (Luppold 1984a.1996.1997; Holmes et al. 1990; Sendak1992: Luppold and Baumgras 1993). be-tween lumber prices and stumpage prices(Luppold 1984a,1997: Kingsley andDebald 1987: Luppold and Baumgras1995: Luppold et al. 1998). and betweenexports and sUinipagc prices (LuppoldI984b.1994.1995: Buhler and Briggs1988). In addition, the residual valuemethod and the transaetlons evidence ap-praisal technique arc common proce-dures for determining stumpage priceand illustrate the backward link betweenthe price of a final prixiuct (e.g.. a deliv-ered log) and stumpage price (Combes ctal. 1989. Schuster an'd Niccolucci 1̂ )90.Klemperer 1996. Luppold 1996. Mac-Kay and Baughman 1996. Rideout andHesseln 1997. Duk)is 1998. Bare andSmith 1999). However, none of tliesestudies addressed how various parts of a!iardwxK)d tree are distributed to variousend users or product markets.

As previously indicated, hardwoodlogs may be merchandised because

' For example, j Janunry J(K).> editian ofllie SawlogBulledn iisied hard nmple log prices in New Yorkranging between S20 and S6,S0O per thou-sandhoard feet.

- I'ace venecr is vcnccr used in appearance upplica-tions such as furniture iind paneling surfaces.whereas oiher hardwotxl veneer is prtniiiced fnittilower quaiiiy Uigs and is used as ihe interior of ply-wood maicrial (core stock and cross banding).

some end users desire logs with specificcharacteristics and are willing to pay forthese differences. Face veneer^ produc-ers normally desire logs of highest qual-ity and can pay a much higher price forsuch logs than most .sawmills. High-quality hardwood veneer logs and saw-logs also can be exported to Kuropc.Asia, and other international markets.Some domestic sawmills specialize inspecific speeies and products; othermills may have preferences for certainqualities such as color; while others willprefer such qualities as straightness andlack of defeets. For example, the SawlogBulletin (bi-monthly) publishes lists ofspecific delivered log characteristicssought by individual sawmills. However,many, if not most, sawmills accept andprocess logs of nearly all species andmost grades.

Under optimal market conditions,each log would be distributed to (he enduser ofTering the best price, and thenumber of possible end users generallyincreases with increased log size (Priee1989). However, most logs are pur-chased in bulk through timber s;iles. gatelog purchases from independent loggingfirms, or as resale from other distribu-tors. When considering the eosts totransport each truckload decisions mustbe evaluated in tenns of the whole truck-load rather than optimal use of each log.In addition, stumpage buyers maychtxise to leave certain low grade or be-low grade logs in the w<Hids if the mar-ginal cost of hauling these logs is lowerthan the \alue that can be obtained fromthese logs through further processing orresale (Jackson 1980).

ObjectiveThe objective ol this study was to ana-

lyze the factors influencing the dislribu-lion. consumption, and merchandisingof hardwood logs. It was decided that itmight be more useful to lot>k at a rela-tively small geographic area in order toreduce the potential impact of regionalvariations in the log market. We havechosen to examine the log markets inNew York's southern tier (Fig. I). Thisarea is of interest because of the rela-tively high-quality timber that is deman-ded by national and international custom-ers and the diversity of the hartlwoodindustry that utilizes this resource. There-fore, this study cannot be interpreted inbroad geographic terms but may pro\ idea baseline of concepts and ideas that canbe extended to other regions.

Methods

Ideally, it would have been useful toexamine the merchandising of hard-wood logs by starting at the logging siicand tracking the logs upward thrtiughthe marketing chain. However, loggerswere reluctant to cooperate for a varietyof reasons, including stowing down thelogging and loading process and thephysical safely of the data collectors atlogging sites. An alternative approachwas to go to the most important log usersin the region (hardwood sawmills) andwork backwards into log and stumpagemarkets and forward through the logmerchandising that occurs at the milllevel.

A list of 42 mills that produce in ex-cess of I million board feet (MMBF) peryear and operate in New York's southerntier was constructed using the New Yorkdirectory of primary wood-using indus-tries (NYSDFC IW6). These mills wereinitially contacted through a letter and aphone call inquiring if they would par-ticipate in a telephone sur\ey. The ques-tionnaire was broken down into fourparts and took approximately 1 hour toadminister. The first part asked partici-pants to rank log characteristics (e.g..speeies. grade, color, etc.) in order ofpreference, and market publications re-ceived by the mill (e.g.. Northeast Log-ger. Sawlog Bulletin, Hardwotxl MarketRep<jrt. etc.). The secttnd part was usedlo obtain general information on themill's size and production technology(e.g., headsaw. resaw. green chain, etc.).The third part asked for the main meth-ods of procurement and the distancestraveled to obtain logs. The final part

FOREST PRODUCTS JOURNAL VOL. 54. No. 1 1 99

Table 1. — Primary method of obtaining hardwood logs and distance of procurement area by sawmill grouping and size.

Group* Size class Procurement method(s) Most frequent procurement method Maximum procurement distance

Multi-species mills

Select-species mills

BBBB

BB

C

ccD

AABDD

Stumpage/logsStumpage. logs

Stumpage'logs

Stumpage-logs

Stumpagc/logs/own

Stumpage/logs

Stumpage'logs/own

Stumpage.' togs, own

Stumpage-logs

Stumpage/logs

Stumpagc/logs

Logs'

Stumpage/logs

Stumpage/logs

Stumpage/logs

StumpageSiumpage

Logs

Stumpage

Stumpage

Stumpage

Stumpage

Stumpage

Stumpage

Stumpage

LogsLogsLagsLogs

Logs

250200too5060100100

too80100

20050100200200

'Multi-species mills have a preference for mosi or all species. Select-species mills have a preference for a narrow range of species."A = between 1 and 2.99 MMBF/year: B = between 3 and 5.99 MMBF/year; C = between 6 and 8.99 MMBF/year; and D = greater than 9 MMBF/ycar."̂ Will occasionally financially back purchases by an independent logger.

asked for information concerning theutilization and merchandising of logs.'Sixteen firms agreed to participate. Thisresponse rate was due to difficulty intracking down the appropriate contactsat the mills and small procurement per-sonnel staffs with little available time.Of these 16 firms, a few operated morethan I mill in the region. Since loggrades and definitions are not uniformbetween mills, participating finns werefa.xed information on the log grades as-sumed by the study (Hanks ct al. 1980)in order to obtain a consistent response.These grades were veneer/primc export(veneer/primex). grade 1, grade 2, grade3. and below grade.

Analysis and resultsAnnual production for mills operated

by responding firms ranged from 1 to 20MMBF per year. Tt) ensure anonymity.firms that operate nuiltiplc mills of sitn-ilar size and with similar requirementswere treated as one observation in Ta-bles 1 and 2. We also ensured anonytiiityby aggregating mills into four capacityclasses versus reporting precise produc-tion volumes. Even with the limitednumber of mills surveyed there weresome consistent responses by mills ofsimilar size and speeies requirements re-garding how logs were obtained and re-sold.

The procedure for develc^ing the telephone ques-lionnaire can be found in Smalley (2002).

Respondents were first asked to rankthe following factors in terms of impor-tance for determining the probability ofpurchasing a particular sale: hardwoodspecies and tree gnides. knowledge ofmarkets gained from reading trade pub-lications, distance from the sawmill tothe timber sale site, and special hard-wood log attributes desired by the saw-tiiill in question. It is not stirprising thatall responding sawmills cho.se tree gradeand species as the most important factorin resouree purchase decisions. Eight ofthe mills chose resource transportationdislance as the second in their hierarehyof purchase tactors (six of these saw-mills produce at least 5 MMBF of hard-wood-based products annually), whilefour others picked distance as the thirdmost important purchasing factor. Mar-ket knowledge gained from trade publi-cations had one vote for second sixvotes for third and a majority of eightvotes for fourth. The fourth-place votesfor market knowledge consisted of saw-mills annually producing less than 9MMBF of sawn hardwood products,suggesting that smaller sawmills placeless emphasis on efficient stumpage ap-praisal in relation to procuring preferredstumpage qualities wilhin competitiveregional markets. While distanee wasrated relatively high in the hierarchy, themaximum procurement distanee seemsto vary eonsiderably from mill to milland is not correlated with mill size (Ta-ble I). This finding indicates that spe-cific log preferenees by mill owners, ae-

eess to an interstate, or other factors alsomay influence the distanee mills travelto procure logs.

The second major issue examined washow mills procured logs. There aremany ways that mills obtain logs includ-ing: logs delivered to the mill by an inde-pendent contractor (gate logs), togs pur-chased at or near the logging site (eurb-side purchases), logs purchased fromother mills (resales), direct stumpagepurchase {stutnpage purchases), har-vests from own land (own), or finan-cially backing an independent contrac-tor with explicit right of refusal for logsof specific characteristies. While allfirms suneyed indieated that they pro-eured logs using more than one of theseprocedures, stttmpage purchases or gatelogs were listed as the main method ofproeurement (Table I).

An initial examination of the re-sponses to the log procurement ques-tions produced perplexing results be-cause boih the snialles! and two of thelargest mills indieated gate logs as theirprimary source, while most of the mid-size mills indieated stumpage as the pri-mary souree. However, five of the sixmills that listed gate logs as the most im-portant source cither used one species orhad a fairly specific set of species used.Therefore, it was decided that the millsshould be separated into two groups inTables I and 2: mills that indicated apreference for most or all species (multi-species mills) and mills that indieated

lOO NOVEMBER 2004

Table 2. — Disposition of different grades of logs received at the mill, by sawmill grouping and size.

Group '

Multi-species mills

Select-species mills

Size class

BBBBBBC

C

C

D

A

A

BDD

Veneer/primex

Sold

Sold

Sold

Sold

Sold/sawn''

Sold/sawn'

Sold

Sold'

Sold/sawn'

Sold/sawn"

NA'

Sold

NA

Sold

Sold

Grade 1

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn''

Sawn

Sawn

How logs are handled once at the mill

Grade 2

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn*^

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Grade 3

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn

Sawn''

Sawn/sold^

Sawn

Sawn/sold'

Sawn

Sawn/sold

Sawn

Sawn/sold

Sawn/sold'

Sawn/sold

Sawn/sold

Below grade

Sawn or sold as firewood

Sold tor blocking

Sawn

Sawn/sotd as firewood

Sawn

Sold for pallets and firewood

Sold for firewood

Sold as pulp or firewood

Discarded

Sawn or used as boiler fuel

Sawn/sold as firewood

Sawn inlo special products

Nothing

Sold

Sold

^Multi-species mills have a preference for most or all species. Select-species mills have a preference for a narrow range of species.'"A - between I and 2.99 MMBF/yeiir; B = between 3 and 5,99 MMBF/year; C = between 6 and 8.99 MMBF/year; and D = greater than 9 MMBF/year,'•Rod oak logs sawn and maple and cherry logs are sold,''Saw what few logs arrive at mill. Below grade logs rarely go to the mill,"•'Some species of prime export logs that are not veneer are consumed hy the mill.*Appro.\imately 20 percent of grade 2 logs sold,^80 percent sold, the rest is sawn.''Veneer logs are not sold in the summer months.'All low-value species sold.'NA = not applicable.

preference for a narrow range of species(select-species mills).

In an effort to track logs from thelanding to the end users, firms were firstasked to state if logs were shipped fromthe landing by log grade. Two of the fivemills reporting gate logs as the primarysource of logs did not provide informa-tion on this question. Of the remainingmills, 13 out of 14 mills indicated ve-neer/primex., grade 1. and grade 2 logswere shipped to the tnill or yards."* Theone exception was a selecf-species millthat indicated veneer logs rarely go tothe mill. For the most part, grade 3 logsgo to multi-species mills. Select-speciesmills rarely ship grade 3 logs to the mill;however, if these logs are shipped to themill they are usually sold. Multi-speciesmills will often ship below grade logs tothe mill. Multi-species mills with an an-nual production greater than 8 MMBFper year indicated that below grade logsare sold as firewood, pallet logs, or pulp-

-' Mills ihat indicated the u.se of yards were not idenli-fieii in Table 1 in an effort lo ensure anonymity ofspecific firms.

wood, given away, or otherwise used to avery limited extent. Multi-species millswith an annual production less than 6MMBF per year have a greater tendencyto use below grade logs, but they alsosell them as firewood. Seleet- speciesmills rarely ship below grade logs to themill.

All responding mills indicated thatmerchandising generally occurred at themill or yard level and not at the landing(Table 2). Most of the multi-speciesmills surveyed with an annual produc-tion less than 9 MMBF per year sold ve-neer/primex logs. The multi-speciesmills surveyed with an annual produc-tion greater than 9 MMBF per year soldveneer logs; however, these mills indi-cated they used some of the prime ex-port logs that were not quite goodenough to be veneer. All select-speciesmills surveyed sold veneer/primex logs.However, most mills were very specificabout selling cherry and hard maple ve-neer logs.

Both multi-species and select-speciesmills surveyed sawed grade 3 logs,though if markets existed for these logsthey were sold. The multi-species mills

surveyed sold as firewood, pallet logs,and pulpwood: discarded; used in a verylimited extent; or used as boiler fuel thebelow grade logs that reached the mill.Select-species mills surveyed with anannual production greater than 9MMBF per year sold below grade logsthat reached the milt as firewood, palletlogs, and pulpwood. Select-species millssurveyed with an annual production lessthan 3 MMBF per year either sold belowgrade logs that reached the mill as fire-wood or sawed them into specialty prod-ucts. This suggested that the marginalcost of processing these logs often ex-ceeded the value of the produet thatcould be produced by sawing them.

Important considerationsfor future studies

While this study provided insight intothe merchandising of hardwood logs,there are important issues not examined.In many areas in the eastern UnitedStates, there are markets for low graderoundwood such as pulpwood or ori-ented strandboard mills. Only 2 of the 16responding firms indicated pulpwoodmarkets for low grade logs. This low re-

FOREST PRODUCTS JOURNAL VOL. 54, NO. 1 1 101

sponse could be the result of the declin-ing pulpwood market in the Northeast atthe time of this survey, the fact that weexamined mill purchases versus loggers"activities, or the distance between thefirms examined and active piilpmillsand other low grade log users. For exam-ple, there are four mills within reason-able distance of the study area that takepulpwood. These are located in Deposit.,NY; .lohnsonburg, PA; Sunbury, PA; andTowanda. PA. A mill in Erie., PA elosedin 2001-2002

While most of the surveyed firmswith no narrow speeies preference had apropensity to purehase stumpage. theremay be numerous reasons why this typeof behavior may not exist in all regions.For example., if a region has had tradi-tionally well capitalized independentloggers as the primary purchasers ofstumpage. then there may be less of aneed for mills to purchase stumpage.Additional research is needed to deter-mine what influences a mill propensityto purehase stumpage versus gate logs.

Summary and conclusionsUnder optimal market eonditioiis. in-

dividual logs would be distributed to us-ers offering the highest priee. Log mer-chandising is important beeause it offersa market mechanism that best ap-proaches this optimality subject to realworld eonsiderations sueh as log separa-tion and transportation costs. Throughthis process, greater returns to loggingequipment and forest management arepossible. Still, this important marketproeess has not received much analysisa.s it applies to hardwood product mar-kets. This study bas started to reducethis knowledge gap by examining thefaetors influencing the distribution, eon-sumption, and merchandising of bard-wood logs in New York's .southern tier.This region is especially interesting be-eause it eontains relatively high timberquality that is demanded hy a variety ofdomestic and international customers.

Beeause of operational and safety rea-sons, it was decided to coneentrate thestudy on the activities of larger sawmillswithin this region. An examination of 16firms in New York's southern tier indi-eated mills primarily foeus on speeiesand quality when making proeurementdecisions. While the distance logs musttravel also appeared to be important,there was no strong relationship be-tween the size of the mill and the size ofihe proeurement region. Firms tbat re-

quire specific speeies (seleet-speeiesmills) tended to have a greater propen-sity to purehase gate logs, while millsthat produee a broad range of speeies(multi-species mills) had a propensity topurchase stumpage.

When mills purehased stumpage, theyshipped tbe grade 2 and higher logs fromthe sale site to the mill. Ail but one of themulti-species mills also shipped grade 3logs to the mills, wbile the seleet-speeiesmills bad stipulations about grade 3 logs.Wbile smaller multi- speeies millstended to ship helow grade logs to theirmills, large seleet-speeies and multi-spe-cies mills showed a greater frequency ofselling or discarding this material.

Every firm survey indieated tbat theysold all or part of the veneer/primex logsreceived at tbeir mills. But several of thelarger Group I firms processed some ofthese higher grade logs into lumber.While there were two firms that indi-eated they sell some of their grade I or 2logs, these logs were, for the most part,processed into lumber. Smaller multi-species mills tended to saw grade 3 logs;large multi-speeies and seleet-speeiesfirms tended to either sell or saw theselogs. Botb types of mills indieated theyintended not to proeess below-grade logs,preferring to sell, bum, or diseard them,whicb suggests that tbe marginal eost ofproeessing these logs exceeds tbe valueof tbe lumber that could be produced.

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