Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Forestry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tennessee shows export gains for timber even as domestic markets slump
Summary
Commissioner Holt told the committee Tennessee remains a major hardwood exporter but domestic lumber demand and pulp processing capacity have declined; he cited efforts to open foreign markets (Vietnam) and called for value-added uses for low-value fiber.
Commissioner Andy Holt told senators that Tennessee’s forest and timber sector is under stress from lower domestic lumber demand and loss of pulp processing capacity, but that export marketing has produced gains in some markets.
Holt said lumber sales and log exports were impacted by trade disruptions in 2024–25 and reported that Tennessee lost about 2,500,000 green tons of pulpwood processing capacity after Resolute’s Calhoun mill closed and Domtar’s Kingsport mill converted to recycled paper. He said those changes left a domestic glut of green material that could be used in manufacturing and energy applications.
The department highlighted a recent export success: hardwood exports to Vietnam were valued at $19,800,000 in 2024, up from $11,600,000 in 2023. Holt described targeted international marketing as a model the department wants to replicate for row crops: “when we focused on a single good in a single emerging market, we saw extremely high amounts of return,” he said.
Holt asked legislators to consider ways the state could help attract processing and value‑added investments for low‑value fiber, such as using slabs and sawdust for energy production, and to maintain policies that support forest product markets. Committee members thanked TDA for the update and raised questions about local impacts in counties that lost mill jobs; no policy votes followed the briefing.
