12-12-2002, 03:52 AM
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questions about paper companies
In article ,
writes:
I am trying to figure out how trees get to paper mills. My
understanding is that they are harvested by loggers, who put them on a
skider or forwarder, and then put them on logging trucks, and then
they get taken to the mill. Is this correct? If so, are all these
people employed by the paper company, or are they indepant
contractors? are paper companies vertically intergrated?
It varies. The automated logging operations are usually corporate
projects because the big machines cost $1.5 million or so. If a small
operator gets shut down, equipment costs would eat him alive. Mills also
contract with logging companies to cut sales.
also another question:
I've read that paper use in america has sky rocketed , that it has
grown by 10 or 20% since 1998 ( not exactly sure about that figure).
yet over the summer I worked near berlin, NH and the paper mill was
shut down, and many paper companies where selling off their land in
Northern Maine. If paper use is skyrocketing, and demand is
increasing, why would they be closing factories and selling off land?
Are they moving their production to other parts of the country or to
other countries?
The biggest pulp mill in the world is in Indonesia. It cost over a $1
billion to build, and is capable of digesting all of the trees in SE Asia
over the next 30 or 40 years. They can log Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam,
Burma and Indonesia, and just load the logs on barges. There are few
environmental restrictions, labor is cheap, and there are no protective
tariffs. US companies can't compete.
any help would be great.thanks.
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http://home.teleport.com/~larryc
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