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The Take Over!

Started by Frank_Pender, January 22, 2002, 06:46:07 AM

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Frank_Pender


     Two of the BIG boys "merged".  Weyerhaeuser has succeded in its take over of Willamette Industries.  Some say it is to early to tell what the outcome or repercussions.  Some of us at the ground level, like loggers feel that the game has changed for competition on selling logs.  One less now to wheel and deal with "cuts" into our ability to  get a better price for our logs.  You can see the entire article inthe Statesman Journal if you wish by going to StatesmanJournal.com.    There are many tears here in "Mudville" today. :'( :'( :'(  You see, Dallas, Oregon is where Willamette Industries got it start.  We jjust lost i70 or so jobs  a few months ago when the plywood section of the mill was closed.  Now this. We will have to wait and see what the fall our brings.
Frank Pender

DanG

Hey, Frank.  That really stinks for a lot of folks.

The up-side is; The only game in town is, now, PENDER INDUSTRIES! ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Jeff

Frank, ya really do need a website now. ;) I'm running a special.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Corley5

My Grandfather sold some maple sawlogs to Weyerhauser a few years back.  At the time he thought he did good.  Dad and I sold our maple logs to a locally owned and operated mill for just exactly twice what Weyerhauser offered us.  Beware of Weyerhauser!!!
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Jeff

Corley5,

Not necessarily in the defense of anyone, but mill and buyer prices can vary widely because of the markets available to that particular business. Just because someone offers a lot lower price does not automatically make them someone to "Lookout for".  That price may be the highest they can pay and still make a profit with their available market
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Corley5

Jeff,
  I understand where you're coming from but Grandpa wasn't the only one.  They developed a reputation in our area very fast due to their practices.  No one in the forest industry around here has anything good to say about them.  The few who did work for/with them soon left.  Poor scale and down grading logs were chief complaints.  Maybe Weyerhauser as a whole is a good outfit, I don't know, but the part of it that operates here in Nothern Lower Michigan I've found isn't to be trusted.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Frank_Pender

Dan G.  

    I am the only game in town with this sort of set up.  My nearest competitions are anywhere from 25 to 40 miles away, that I know  about.   I have a fella that is one of the lead "side" Supts. for Willamette Industries (soon to be gone) logging subs. operations, bringing in a Truckload of Western big Leaf Maple tomorrow for a custom cutting job.  The work is really out there but, I have chosen to limit my production to reasonable levels of out put without putting an awful long of extra effort into the business.  I really do not have to advertise my services.   I am as busy as I wish to be.  If I start chasing down business, the business may chase me down to a frazzel. :D
Frank Pender

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Be alert guys!

Such changes create niches - little cracks which, for the biggest guys, are useless, but for little guys like me are relatively BIG MARKETS.  Lose a job at a mill? Well chase cut-offs and make random length floor boards. (example)

The loss of all large-log mills in my area is what caught my attention for "Big and Wierd" milling possibilities.  I find log after log left behind, only because the mill capacities nearby won't handle them and the quantity was too low for a load to be taken farther away for cutting.  These logs are often free for the asking or very cheap.
Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Bud Man

Time for you to raise your prices.  One less buyer in town.   It's all how you look at it!!!
The groves were God's first temples.. " A Forest Hymn"  by.. William Cullen Bryant

CHARLIE

Bud_Man, I'm an innocent......well maybe not innocent....bystander, but with only one large milling company, I would think would be bad for the loggers. Couldn't this 'ONE' existing milling company offer a lower price for logs and the loggers wouldn't have anywhere else to sell. ::) Then on the other end, couldn't they then up the price to the construction industry?  :o Bad for everyone but the one existing milling company.
[size=8]$$[/size] >:(
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Bud Man

Coulda==wooda==shoulda==There were only 2 mills in the area.  Loggers will get their logs to mill.    Supply and demand will dictate retail price to end users.  Half of the lumber in my area has made in sweded or elsewhere tags on them, and with only 1 mill their going to have less time than ever to custom mill.(Helps Frank) Maybe room for a couple more Frank's.
The groves were God's first temples.. " A Forest Hymn"  by.. William Cullen Bryant

CHARLIE

Competition is a good thing. It can keep prices from being to low and it can keep prices from being to high. When one large company becomes larger by buying up all their competition, then they can dictate prices they pay for raw material and they can dictate prices for which they will sell their product. Small mills take care of the "niches" in the market that are not profitable enough for the large mills to mess with. Frank has already stated that he is as busy as he wants to be. I would hazard to say that many small mills that take care of "niches" in the market are busy milling what the large mill won't touch. I strongly believe it is a bad thing when a large company controls the marketplace. They can, if they want, buy up the smaller competition and close them down. They can offer low prices for their raw material and if the seller doesn't want to sell, the large company can most likely out wait him. Think about it. What if there were only one large grocery store in your area and nowhere else to buy food. :(    
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Tom

I would plant me a row of greens and a row of squash and a row of tomatoes and a row of corn and sit under the oak tree with my 22.   ;D

Bud Man

Charlie-----Frank's origianl post was a nostalgic moment about Willamette and the workers.  If Frank's as busy as he wants to be , then he's out of the picture, even though he mentions someone hauling in some maples to suit his needs.   Supply and demand took the area down to one mill, and will take them back to two if need be. As far as logger prices== looks like openings are available for haulers in Mudville area to haul to the next closest mill.  As far as retail pricing of wood products and groceries --Home Depot and Walmart are on their way to even Mudville.===Price fixing --Even Microsoft knows that won't work for long--There's a lawyer behind every tree in Mudville as well.  
The groves were God's first temples.. " A Forest Hymn"  by.. William Cullen Bryant

Frank_Pender

  We  already have  a Wally World in Mudville.  :'( There is a Home Depot 20 miles away and  a Lowes coming soon in that same location. :-[  I got a cutting job while a HD yesterday, when I was buying some electrical supplies. ;)
Frank Pender

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