What is Weyerhaeuser's business plan?

The sale of Plum Creek Timber Company to Weyerhaeuser was completed February 19, 2016 for $8.4B. Shortly after a Weyerhauser spokesman stated that manufacturing operations “will remain in Montana and the jobs associated with manufacturing will remain.” In June, 2016 Weyerhaeuser announced the closing of the lumber and plywood mills in Columbia Falls and the loss of 100-plus jobs. The stated reason was a shortage of logs for the mills. Apparently the preservation of mill jobs and mill operations were not a legal requirement in the sale contract. I wonder how long the promise to allow the public on Weyerhaeuser property in Montana permit/fee- free will be good.

When told of the planned acquisition of Plum Creek by Weyerhaeuser an acquaintance of mine who lives in western Washington expressed concern. That person stated that Weyerhaeuser had changed their business plan to focus on the real estate value of timber property. They were no longer interested in the manufacture of timber products. They were making their money on leases, permit fees, real estate sales, etc. The closing or sale of Plum Creek manufacturing facilities was predicted. Guess what?

If I were working at the Evergreen timber products plants I would not feel secure. My guess is that those facilities will be next to go by the wayside.

I don’t believe that lack of profitability of Plum Creek was an issue that brought on the sale. According to on-line financial statements Plum Creek earned about $1.5B in revenue with $408M in gross profit (28 percent) and $197M in net income (13.6 percent) in 2015. This seems pretty profitable to me. It must have just been the money that was the driver. The board of directors of Plum Creek must have known about the revised focus of Weyerhaeuser when the sale was contemplated. I wonder what efforts were made to prepare mill employees for the inevitable mill closures. I also wonder where the $8.4B sales proceeds went. Did any of it find its way to the employees?

To me the only way that timber product manufacturing jobs can be preserved on the former Plum Creek mill sites is for a third party to lease the existing plants from Weyerhaeuser and operate under those agreements. Hopefully this, or something similar, can be accomplished.

Charles W. Davis

Columbia Falls