Plywood mill closing after 30 years

the Oregonian ^ | 30 April 02 | AP

[Glutton]

Plywood mill closing after 30 years

The Associated Press
4/30/02 7:37 PM

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- After 30 years weathering the ups and downs of the timber industry, Fourply Inc. stopped production at its plywood mill here on Tuesday, putting about 50 people out of work.

For Tom Alarie, the closure left him with an uncertain future after 31 years working in plywood mills as a receiving clerk, grader, panel patcher and tongue-and-groove machine operator.

"I may go to school, but I'd rather go back into plywood," he said. "It's the only thing you can make any money at."

Declining timber harvests on federal lands forced Fourply to tighten its belt and lay off workers twice in the past 12 years to avoid shutting down.

The final closure has been brought on by the construction industry's preference for cheaper structural panels made from wood chips, known as oriented strand board, plus increased imports of softwood plywood, said general manager Bill Norfleet.

"This is it. There's no miracle," he said.

About 20 people will continue on the job for a couple months preparing to sell off inventory and equipment.

The company will continue to manufacture veneer and plywood products at its Eagle Veneer mills in Harrisburg and Junction City, said Norfleet.

Fourply's closure will leave five plywood producers operating in southwestern Oregon and two wood products mills in Grants Pass.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Glutton]

Ping

[Illbay]

Don't be misled by that bit about "foreign softwood", etc. The ONLY true fact here is that plywood is slowly being edged into obsolescence by later-generation engineered wood products like Oriented Strand Board (OSB).

It is less expensive to manufacture including lower energy costs, is more "environmentally friendly" (since it doesn't require any certain parts of the tree; it can be well-made with what plywood manufacturing would consider "waste products" and it performs at or above the standard for structural use panels such as plywood.

BTW, I'm a structural engineer who does light-frame and residential construction. It is my business to know this. No one explicitly specifies "plywood" any more.

[Phantom Lord]

"I may go to school, but I'd rather go back into plywood," he said. "It's the only thing you can make any money at."

Well then i am clearly in the wrong business. Anyone out there have any connections with
"Big Plywood" so I can start making some money?

[Phantom Lord]

The final closure has been brought on by the construction industry's preference for cheaper structural panels made from wood chips, known as oriented strand board, plus increased imports of softwood plywood, said general manager Bill Norfleet.

Maybe they should have converted a portion of their production facility to making those products. I bet they have enough scrap from producing plywood to make partical board.

[Glutton]

Good point, but there will always be a demand for plywood. At least at the specialty level. Marine plywood and other forms of this building material is the only thing that will work in some applications.

I also noticed a view high priced homes in the South hills of Eugene that were build with it. (Apparently the extra cost was worth it fr these folks.)

[Ben Ficklin]

Meanwhile, in southern Mississippi

[TexasRepublic]

Are those "chip" boards really much better than particle board? Particle board is a joke -- it deteriorates much more radidly than plywood when exposed to moisture.

[RipSawyer]

"My wife left this sawmill town, she said sawmill life had been a sin, the gravy was too thin. Mercy on a pore boy lemme have a dollar bill."