Vancouver, BC—One of the most well known names in lumber products, Interfor, is now one of the largest and most diverse lumber suppliers in North America, providing lumber for every aspect of home construction.
Within the last year, Interfor’s total annual lumber capacity has jumped to 2.6 billion board feet through the acquisition of sawmills in Georgia, making it the newest member of North America’s top five lumber companies.
The Georgia purchases added 900 million board feet a year of Southern Yellow Pine capacity to Interfor’s already diverse product mix. It also made Interfor the largest lumber producer in Georgia.
“We are stable, we are steady, and we have a growth strategy that will support our customer promise to deliver quality products ‘on spec, on time, every time’,” said Steven Hofer, Interfor’s senior vice president, sales and marketing.
The Adams Lake mill, in the BC Southern Interior was rebuilt in 2012.
But the Interfor story is not just about growth.
“Besides strategic growth, we have made sure we can offer our customers choice including the broadest range of lumber products in the business,” said Hofer. “That means you can come to Interfor for every structural lumber product of a house.”
To deliver a complete range of quality structural lumber products takes a reliable, sustainable fiber supply and mills equipped to efficiently convert logs into lumber. Interfor’s fiber comes from four strategic wood baskets, the US Pacific Northwest, the British Columbia Coast, the BC Interior and the US Southeast.
The combination of fiber supply and mill efficiency provides buyers with the certainty they need in getting the product they want on time. Making sure it has mills able to serve the lumber needs in the vast and diverse North American lumber market as well as offshore, is what Interfor’s growth is all about.
The product line begins with floor joists and continues through every stage of construction to truss lumber for the roof. The lineup includes:
Dimension, MSR and Stud lumber manufactured in Hemlock Fir, Douglas-Fir, Spruce/Pine/Fir and Southern Yellow Pine;
Interfor’s manufacturing facilities are in four distinct regions.
Appearance lumber for products such as siding, decking and paneling and stock for windows and doors in species including Western Red Cedar, Hemlock, Douglas-Fir, Southern Yellow Pine, Lodgepole Pine and Ponderosa Pine. Specialty materials in the dimensions, lengths and grades customers require are also available.
Interfor also manufactures Industrial lumber in grades that are remanufactured and processed into wood packaging and crating materials. Made from Douglas Fir, Hem-Fir, SPF or Southern Yellow Pine, these products meet the highest standards for strength and stability, and ensure goods arrive safely.
The journey to a top-five lumber producer with the broadest range of lumber products began in 1963 on British Columbia’s west coast. By 2002, it was a medium-sized forest company producing 772 million board feet of lumber with mills on the BC Coast as well as a mill in the BC Southeast Interior. In 2004 the company embarked on a growth plan.
Major expansion began in the mid-2000s with the acquisition of four sawmills in the US Pacific Northwest. Those purchases almost doubled the size of the company to 1.3 billion board feet, and marked the first step outside of BC.
More purchases of sawmills and timber in BC’s prime interior wet-belt region in 2008 took the company up to 1.6 billion board feet. In 2011, having emerged from the U.S. housing downturn with a strong balance sheet, Interfor set the goal of becoming one of the world’s largest lumber producers.
Interfor can provide lumber for every aspect of home construction.
That new growth strategy was behind Interfor’s decision in 2013 to buy Rayonier’s three Georgia sawmills and later Keadle Lumber’s sawmill at Thomaston, GA. Most recently, this March, Interfor purchased Tolleson’s two sawmills in Perry and Preston, GA.
Since then, Interfor has announced it will open an office in Peachtree City, near Atlanta, providing Interfor’s customers with a regional office and staff who are familiar with their lumber needs. Further, all of the Tolleson sales team has joined Interfor ensuring a seamless and efficient transition.
The Tolleson purchase fits well with Interfor’s push to provide customers with the best quality lumber.
“The new mills are managed very well. They have an outstanding group of people and a very well-developed performance management and operating program,” Hofer said. “With the addition of these two mills to the existing 13, Interfor is even better positioned to serve customers as the US housing market continues its recovery.”
A commitment to operational excellence supported by a strategic growth plan means more choice, more supply and better service for customers — here in North America and around the world where Interfor products are sold.
Interfor’s Hammond mill on the BC Coast manufactures Western Red Cedar lumber for appearance applications.
In the mid-2000s, Interfor purchased four mills in the US Pacific Northwest, including Port Angeles.
Interfor has purchased six mills in Georgia over the past year, making it the largest lumber company in the state of Georgia. The Swainsboro kiln was rebuilt in 2013.
Interfor’s Southern Yellow Pine dimension and MSR lumber is available in a variety of lengths and sizes to fit customer needs.
