January 2001 - Logging and Sawmilling Journal -

Central Interior Log Sort has developed a niche in directing the right wood to the right mill and is looking to build further on that concept.

Accessing wood fibre at the right price has been a constant challenge for Central Interior Log Sort Ltd (CILS) of Prince George, British Columbia. For two years, the company has sought out small business, private, woodlot and trade wood volumes and developed the expertise to direct the right wood to the right mill for processing. CILS was poised to take the next quantum leap forward by applying for a 15year value-added timber harvesting licence to help the company access fibre to expand its operations and diversify its product base. But the BC Ministry of Forests allocated the wood elsewhere. "We believe we have a valid proposal. We're still going to try and move ahead with it," explains Aaron Sarrazin, demonstrating the regrouping perseverance necessary to work within the system.

The company has been told they should apply for another licence, he adds. Sarrazin is a partner in the entrepreneurial CILS with Jim Goetjen and his son Jamey. Forging a new partnership was and is integral to CILS' plans. The Tl'azt'en Nation and CILS plan to become joint managers in Yinke Dene Forest Products Ltd, which has an existing but non producing sawmill in Fort St James, about 160 kilometres northwest of Prince George. Under the proposal, the present sawmill will be resurrected to custom cut Japanese squares. CILS has developed a cooperative program with Weldwood of Canada's Quesnel sawmill, says Sarrazin. Weldwood processes up to 24inch diameter wood in its Quesnel plant and 20inch and better material is the most economic for square production in the head rig at the Fort St James mill, continues Sarrazin. "We would give the wood that's best suited to them and they will do the same for us," he says. The Weldwood people have examined the Yinke Dene mill and are confident it can do the job with some modifications.

The second plank in the joint venture proposal is to add a small line to the Fort St James mill. Technological options would need to be examined and would likely include some sort of scragg mill and a chipping unit. It would produce commodity lumber from the material best suited to it and laminate stock. That, in turn, will ultimately lead to the third ingredient, construction of a laminate plant using feed from the mill to produce items like furniture components and shelving. "What we plan on doing is utilizing the existing mill, adding to it, putting in a value-added plant and utilizing our timber profile while creating employment for First Nations and other residents of the Fort St James area," Sarrazin says. The part about utilizing timber profile is fundamental to the CILS philosophy. "We're often compared with the Swedish model and people ask why we don't get the utilization here in Canada," he says. "The answer is tenure. We have to log the whole timber profile. What we try to do at CILS is to take that profile, sort it and get the right wood to the right mill.

"The fundamental problem with the whole value-added industry in BC is that the highest costs are in stumpage and that's tied to some things you have no control over," says Sarrazin. "The fundamental problem with the whole value-added industry in BC is that the highest costs are in stumpage and that's tied to some things you have no control over."

Ultimately the industry benefits. Mills get what they want rather than what they have to take." CILS occupies leased land adjacent to two interchanges, the junction of the Fraser and Nechako rivers and the CN and BC Rail lines. The site is also home to a small value-added plant specializing in birch utilization. During spring breakup, the CILS yard is sparse. "Our objective at breakup is to have inventory at a minimum on our site. It doesn't get better looking with age," notes Sarrazin. Unfortunately, no one was buying many logs during much of the summer of 2000, but usually the yard is a busy place. "Our biggest source of fibre is under category one of the Ministry of Forest's small business forest enterprise program." Based on the volumes purchased during the 19992000 period, small business wood comprised 126,208 cubic metres from a total of 173,942 cubic metres handled by the company.

Category one sales are typically competitively bid, aided in part by proxy bidders for licensees. The second largest fibre source in the 19992000 period was from woodlots (27,322 cubic metres), followed by trades (10,531 cubic metres) and wood purchased from private lands (9,880 cubic metres). Sarrazin says CILS has developed a niche market for Douglas fir and is usually on the look out for appropriate quality and sizes in that species. Weldwood of Canada has proved a key supplier of Douglas fir. CILS has developed mutually beneficial trading and business relationships with other major forest companies in the region. Sarrazin says the Sinclar Group has become the largest buyer of spruce and pine logs from CILS' acquisitions and Carrier Lumber has proven very supportive of the log sort concept.

CILS has developed mutually beneficial trading and business relationships with major forest companies in the region.

It's tough for the forest service because traditionally CILS didn't fit into their operational categories, he says. CILS is well located with six forest districts to act as catch basin for wood supply. While CILS specializes in buying, sorting and marketing wood, it also does some timber harvesting through Hat Lake Logging, a Fort St James based company with which CILS partner Jim Goetjen is associated. "We thought it could be a different niche in the logging side and still think it will. We have the markets: the key is getting the wood at the right price," he says. When CILS is successful in landing a small business wood sale, it endeavours to do as much sorting as possible at the landing or in the bush. Sorting at the landing allows the timber in the case of stud wood with four-inch tops and eight inch butts to be trucked across CILS' scale, keeping it on the truck and sending it on its way to a designated mill, says Sarrazin.

The procedure is similar with peelers and sawlogs. Keeping fibre handling to a minimum is a major operational consideration. It also produces less waste and disposal problems. There are few species they want to dump in the yard and handle, he adds. Douglas fir is an exception. It's a distinct benefit to sort at the tree or stem level and merchandise by bucking to specified lengths. (CILS has developed a tight, quality oriented set of bucking specifications and guidelines for contractors selling wood). As space for sorting in the bush is at a premium in most woodlot operations, often the generally smaller parcels purchased from woodlots end up being sort ed in the yard. But when all is said and done, having a secure timber supply is the solution to CILS' conundrum of getting needed volumes of wood fibre at the right price.

Main Page

The Right Stuff