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Senator warns pulpwood market collapse is putting South Carolina forestry industry "on the ropes"
Summary
On the Senate floor, the senator from Charleston urged state action to restore markets for pulpwood — including a bulk loading facility at the Port of Charleston — after mills closed and pulpwood prices plunged, a development she said threatens timber production and rural economies.
Senator Khamsin, the senator from Charleston, told the South Carolina Senate on the floor that the state's forestry industry is in a market crisis and urged action to restore demand for pulpwood, including construction of a bulk loading facility at the Port of Charleston.
Khamsin said the forestry sector is the state's largest industry by payroll and cited what she described as a $23,000,000,000 economic impact. "If you can't sell pulpwood, you can't grow sawtimber," she told colleagues, adding that the loss of markets and mill closures are forcing landowners to consider selling timberland for development rather than managing it for timber production.
The senator said multiple paper mills have closed and that pulpwood prices have collapsed. "The price of the pulpwood is just…
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