Inside this issue

Ongoing changes in the pulp and paper industry have major implications for the overall wood bioenergy fiber supply chain: A trend toward less roundwood usage and consolidation in containerboard markets and capacity have led to multiple closures around the country and especially in the U.S. Southeast.

In fact, the most recent large scale closures at International Paper, Georgetown, SC and Campti, La., along with Georgia-Pacific at Cedar Springs, Ga., represent roughly 5% of U.S. containerboard capacity.

The industry is simply using less virgin fiber for paper and packaging raw material supply: Roundwood and chip consumption for paper and packaging peaked more than a quarter century ago—98 million tons in 2001—and has plummeted to 70 million tons in 2024, according to the Fastmarkets North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets newsletter.

South Carolina is ground zero for the shift. In recent years the state has lost paper mills at North Charleston and Georgetown and also been affected by closures at Canton and Riegelwood, NC (plus three sawmills and one plywood plant that closed).

A study by the South Carolina Forest Recovery Task Force noted that from spring 2023 to fall 2024 closures in state and in North Carolina resulted in a loss of about 8.2 million tons of wood markets—about 25% of the state’s total timber output.

State landowners and government officials are alarmed, and rightfully so: A healthy market for residuals and small diameter timber is critical for overall forest health and the forest economy and landowners viewing timber as a productive, ongoing investment.

The closures also have big implications for on-the-ground supply chain operators. Mills like Georgetown, Campti and Cedar Springs all were accepting thousands of loads a month. That keeps a lot of loggers working, providing the volume that can make low cut and haul rates workable.

Without those markets, loggers are hauling farther and are likely to get hit with hauling quotas as more suppliers chase the remaining still-open mills.

The report notes that there are South Carolina economic development projects on the drawing board to produce lumber, fiber board, pellets, renewable diesel and more that would account for between 4-5 million tons of wood consumption, so more is definitely needed.

That’s where wood bioenergy comes in: The state is looking to position itself as a leader in the wood bioeconomy. Legislation to expand energy production has directed utilities to explore biomass-fired power plants. Officials are also commissioning studies to develop a bulk loading terminal in the state, and also a feasibility study on developing SAF production, as well as the possibility of using syngas for electricity production and other products.

The ongoing investment in timberlands and timber production is huge for so many wood-based industries to have raw materials available in the future. Wood bioenergy provides a key additional application outside the traditional lumber-panel-paper markets for logs. Developing the industry’s potential certainly doesn’t lack for timber availability.

South Carolina’s search for new wood utilization provides an opportunity to not only repurpose timber for exciting new products but also help define a forest-based economy that’s cleaner and more sustainable.