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FIBRE SUPPLY: MILL MUST RETHINK HARVEST METHODS

MONTREAL, QC — To remain competitive, North American forest product companies need to start thinking about how they can incorporate other strategies to better increase returns on fibre — their most valuable resource, said Craig Campbell of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ eastern Canadian forest and paper group. “Forest product companies are doing a good job of reducing their labor, maintenance facilities and equipment costs,” Campbell said, “but what they’re not doing is increasing revenue by maximizing return on fibre.” He advocates that mills should determine beforehand what timber to harvest and how to process it according to market needs, what he calls the pull strategy. “The idea is to look at the whole production chain, from the time the tree is actually planted — including what species to plant and where to plant it — until it reaches the end customer,” he said. Although such an exercise requires more analysis, the end result is that mills will make better use of a shrinking fibre supply.