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Logs are stored at the Frohna, Missouri, location of International Log and Timber.

International Log and Timber Strategically Located To Meet Specific Log Needs

By Terry Miller 

Frohna, Missouri—International Log and Timber is only six years old, but the company has prospered in that short amount of time, according to Tim Sprink. The company began in 1999, founded by Michael Erath and Matthew Lester. In 2002, managing partners Tim Sprink and Jason Miller joined the operation, bringing their facilities into the operation. The one thing that all the men agreed on was that quality would be the number one priority for the newly formed company, choosing locations that would yield high-quality logs for their customers.

Sprink said, “By combining the three locations in the Appalachian, Northern and Midwest regions, we can ensure our
ILT prepares all of the logs that they export before shipping them out.
customers the log species composition they need and want from the region or area they request.”

“Our customers were asking for certain species from those specific areas of the country,” he stated. “So, we made a want, a reality, and became a full service company to those customers instead of having them buy logs from two or three different companies. They can now come to us and get everything they want from International Log and Timber.”

Lester manages one of the company’s yards and the headquarters, located in Rocky Mount, Virginia, where the main production consists of Appalachian timber, predominantly Red and White Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Hard Maple, Ash, Hickory and Poplar. He mainly procures logs from West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. Lester added that he mainly exports to the Asian market, but also services Europe.

Another one of International Log and Timber’s facilities is located in the Midwest in Frohna, Missouri. This operation produces 3 million board feet of primarily White Oak, Walnut and Hickory veneer and high-quality saw logs. Of that, approximately 1.5 million board feet are
Jason Miller is the manager of the Lincolnville, Pennsylvania, location.
exported. According to Sprink, the location of that facility, which is situated along the Mississippi River, provides fertile soil and great growing conditions for high-grade saw logs and veneer logs.

Miller manages the Northern yard in Lincolnville, Pennsylvania, which procures logs from the northeast part of the United States and southeast Canada. That facility specializes in Cherry, Red Oak and Hard Maple veneer logs. Miller said that he procures Cherry logs from northwestern Pennsylvania and Hard Maple from New York, areas well-known for those particular species.

The company markets 9 to 10 million board feet per year, and the three locations have been exporting about 4 million board feet a year, which equates to more than 1,000 containers per year. The company ships by truck and rail, whichever will get the product to the customer the quickest, according to Sprink. From the Midwest location in Frohna, the logs are trucked to St. Louis, Missouri, to be loaded in containers, while the Appalachian yard in Rocky Mount and Northern yard in Lincolnville are able to load containers in their yards. The company is also
Shade Dri is used to protect the log quality at all of the ILT locations.
proud that every location is an actual branch of the company, as opposed to a satellite office.

“We have staffed all three locations so that we are a full-service provider to our customers at each facility,” Sprink said. “Our foresters at each yard have degrees in forestry, which helps to meet the log requirements of the most discerning buyers.”

The company can fulfill an order for different species of logs from any given region.

“Most of the logs we procure with an end customer already in mind,” he stated. “At all of our yards, our log buyers are carrying S-irons with them, taking care of any cracking issues in the field. We do end-coating with ANCHORSEAl®, which is a waxing process, in the field with backpack sprayers to safeguard the logs, until we can get them onto our yards and do a thorough job.”

International Log and Timber also has a computerized barcoded inventory system, which allows
Matt Lester manages the Rocky Mount, Virginia, operation.
the company to keep track of every transfer made. This system, according to Sprink, lets him know how many logs are still in the field waiting to be hauled onto the yard, as well as where it came from and how long it has been in inventory.

The company markets their logs throughout the United States and around the world. International Log and Timber has a sales team in Asia and Europe to assist the company in its exporting to these areas.

“They are exclusively working for us and they are dealing with our customers hands-on, every day,” Sprink said. “It really helps with the communication barrier. Our U.S. locations might take several days to resolve an issue due to the time differences, but our people there can resolve any issue in one day.”

In addition, Erath, Sprink, Miller and Lester all stressed that being a full-service company is important to them. If a customer orders a certain species, grade or cut, they make sure they handle all aspects of the transaction so all the customer has to do is pick up the container of logs when it arrives at its final destination.

“Providing
Black Walnut veneer logs are just one of the species that ILT offers.
the quality and volume a customer desires and providing a simple process for delivering logs to their destination is the most important objective at ILT.”

 
Tim Sprink grades White Oak logs at the Frohna, Missouri, location. 



 

 

 


 

Logs are end coated with U•C Coatings’ ANCHORSEAL before being shipped out.

 

 

Michael Erath and Matthew Lester are co-founders of International Log and Timber, headquartered in Rocky Mount, Virginia. 

 
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