U.S. Lumber Benefiting From A Trade Dispute That Trump Didn’t Start
Back in 2012, one of the major employers in Montrose, Colorado, a sawmill, was in receivership and on the brink of collapse.
At the time, local media reported that the cost of logging timber had become prohibitively expensive, and the log yard was nearly empty.
These days, logs are stacked high next to a humming mill. Production is up 20 percent from even just 2016.
To meet the growing demand for lumber, Neiman Enterprises owner Jim Neiman has workers pulling 10-hour shifts instead of eight and is planning on investing $20 million in upgrades — something he never would have dreamt of a few years ago.
After years of stagnation, the price of lumber is steadily climbing, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The rural communities with softwood sawmills, located primarily in the northwestern U.S., are booming; the Montrose Economic Development Corporation estimates the sawmill generates 250 direct jobs and adds $32 million to the local economy.
http://netnebraska.org/article/news/1145080/us-lumber-benefiting-trade-dispute-trump-didnt-start