Trade Event Connects Foreign Delegates With Mississippi Timber Industry
In partnership with: Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
When a tree falls in Mississippi, its sound reverberates around the world. That’s the goal for representatives of the state timber industry and Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC).
The department teamed up with the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) to host a historic inbound trade mission and timber products showcase in June 2022 that paved the way for a unified export strategy specific to Mississippi.
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“We want to be known both domestically and globally for our timber resources, and this event helped to open and expand international trade markets previously untapped by our producers,” says Ginger Williamson, MDAC deputy bureau director, Timber Commerce Division and SUSTA activity director for Mississippi Timber Projects.
Timber!
In 2021, Mississippi exported timber materials to 41 countries, and the 2022 event hosted trade delegations from five countries – Mexico, Dominican Republic, Spain, Vietnam and Great Britain.
Five of the state’s timber industry producers attended – Greentree Lumber, Rutland Lumber, Thomasson Company, LandMAX Properties and Jones Lumber Company – as well as various transportation, financial and other international trade stakeholders. The event focused on business-to-business interaction among international buyers and industry representatives, allowing them to interact and ask questions of each other.
“Every buyer here picked up one or more of the participating companies as a new supplier,” Williamson says. “Perhaps most important is the relationships that developed and their ongoing business potential.”
See more: Touting Timber in Mississippi
Tree Tours
Buyers toured a couple of timber companies, including Jones Lumber Company.
“We are one of the largest manufacturers of matting products in the U.S.,” says Arnie Hogue, CEO of Jones Lumber Company.
In addition to mats, products include ties and cants, as well as kiln-dried grade hardwood lumber for flooring, cabinetry and molding manufacturers.
With a sales office in China, the company already serves Vietnam, and the SUSTA event strengthened those ties.
“We’ve maintained communication with the buyers from Vietnam and confirmed trial orders as a direct result of the SUSTA mission trip,” Hogue says.
Another company that provided tours was Thomasson Company, and international sales manager Jorge Espinoza says it served as a great introduction. As a result, several buyers expressed interest in Thomasson Company, which specializes in making utility poles.
“This event opened the door to many other markets,” Espinoza says. “For example, the distributor in Spain was even willing to work with us to distribute our products in Africa.”
Both Espinoza and Hogue say they hope similar events continue annually or biennially. Additional events would help them grow with their respective stakeholders and continue setting industry standards into the future.
See more: Mississippi Branching out into Forestry Industry
Leaning into the Future
The future of Mississippi’s timber industry indeed looks bright.
Weyerhaeuser Premium Seedling in Hazlehurst has been producing loblolly pine for nearly 80 years – planting at a time, the company says, when its industry was only harvesting. Decades of research, testing and regeneration have made its trees today a leading source of sawlogs across the Southern U.S. It also helps keep forestry as one of Mississippi’s top agricultural sectors.
With nearly 20 million acres of forestland containing about 1 billion green tons of hardwoods and softwoods, Mississippi boasts the third largest number of timber-producing acres in the Southeast U.S.
“We have more trees than we harvest; sustainability of our timber industry is a priority,” Williamson says.
Another priority is continuing outreach for the industry.
“It was exciting for stakeholders including the port authorities, rail companies and financial institutions to see what a promising industry this is,” Williamson says. “This event really was worth all the time, effort, work and investment that went into it.”