October - December, 2006
Experts say timber prices drop due to Katrina-damaged trees
Mississippi's timber harvest value is down 9.6 percent this year because the market is flooded with trees that were damaged during Hurricane Katrina, according to experts. Marc Measells, a research associate with Mississippi State University's Department of Forestry, puts the state's timber harvest value at $1.3 billion for 2006. That's down from $1.45 billion last year.
The estimate is based on timber severance tax collections and timber prices through October. Measells said the findings are striking, given that from 2004 to 2005 the value had increased nearly 16 percent. Forestry is Mississippi's second largest commodity just behind poultry, which has an estimated value of almost $2 billion, he said.
Average prices for pine sawtimber dropped by 6.3 percent through October, Measells said.
Mixed hardwood sawtimber declined by almost 10 percent this year, while oak sawtimber dropped by nearly 14 percent. Pine pulpwood prices dipped more than 9 percent and hardwood pulpwood prices fell 18.6 percent for the year.
Measells said Hurricane Katrina disrupted lumber production and timber markets, and when the harvest resumed, landowners quickly sold off damaged trees, flooding the market.
"As a result, the standing and delivered timber prices have fallen significantly across the state in 2006," he said.
Glenn Hughes, an MSU Extension forestry professor in south Mississippi, said the housing market historically has influenced timber prices. That continues to be true despite increased use of imported wood, he said.
Most of the wood produced in Mississippi remains in the South, and much of it is used for residential purposes, Hughes said. "That means housing has a huge impact on our market and therefore on timber prices," he said.
Hughes said single-family home sales in the South declined in the first three quarters of 2006, compared to the same quarter in 2005.
Sources: Hattiesburg American, Associated Press.