Hurricane Laura Will Disrupt Gulf Coast Forest Products Industry

Operations at forest product mills in the Gulf Coast will be interrupted by Hurricane Laura. Nearly 50 mills are within the expected path of the Category 4 hurricane, including 23 softwood lumber mills (2.7 BBF of capacity), 7 structural panel mills (2.6 BSF of capacity), and 10 pulp mills (over 5.5 million tons of capacity). Operations at these mills are the most likely to be severely impacted by the storm, especially those mills located closest to the coast in Louisiana and Texas. Given the storm’s size and strength, it will likely affect mill operations outside of its direct path. In total, nearly 25% of the South’s operational lumber capacity, and a third of the region’s structural panel capacity is within 75 miles of the storm’s expected track. The hurricane will also undoubtedly impact timber supply in the Gulf Coast, interrupting harvesting operations and potentially damaging large volumes of the region’s timber resource.