Weyerhaeuser Company plans to invest $500 million to build a new TimberStrand facility in Arkansas.
The facility, to be located near Monticello and Warren, would expand Weyerhaeuser’s engineered wood products (EWP) capacity in the Southern region of the United States.
The investment also expands Weyerhaeuser’s presence in Arkansas. The company has two existing manufacturing facilities in the state—a lumber mill in Dierks and a plywood and veneer plant in Emerson—as well as 1.2 million acres of timberlands, a seedling nursery, and several offices across Arkansas.
“This is an exciting opportunity to grow our EWP business, expand TimberStrand into the U.S. South, and provide an additional outlet for our fiber logs in Arkansas,” says president and CEO Devin Stockfish. “Of the wood products we produce, EWP has the strongest tie to single-family housing construction activity, and this new facility aligns with our conviction that U.S. housing demand will remain favorable over the long term.”
The new facility will have an annual production capacity of approximately 10 million cubic feet, which is comparable to Weyerhaeuser’s existing facility in Kenora, Ontario. The facility will effectively double Weyerhaeuser's North American TimberStrand capacity, according to the company.
Construction on the Arkansas facility is expected to begin in 2025, with the goal of starting operations in 2027.
Weyerhaeuser plans to combine its institutional expertise from Kenora with research and development to manufacture TimberStrand with southern yellow pine as the primary feedstock. The company said given its sizable timber holdings in Arkansas, the Monticello facility is strategically located to source most of its fiber log requirements from Weyerhaeuser timberlands in the region. The new plant will also include a biomass-fueled cogeneration system, which will fully supply the plant’s electrical needs and reduce its environmental footprint.
“This plant will allow Weyerhaeuser to better serve other customers and end markets in the region, including mass timber applications, and it supports our broader sustainability ambitions,” Stockfish says.
At its full operating capacity, Weyerhaeuser projects the Arkansas facility will generate over $100 million of annual adjusted EBITDA and create nearly 200 jobs.
