Weyerhaeuser Sets Sights On Overseas Timberland

The president of Weyerhaeuser Co. says international markets will prove increasingly important, so the timber company for the first time plans to buy timberlands outside of North America.

Demand for paper in Asia, for instance, is expected to grow twice as fast as in the United States, John W. Creighton Jr. told the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.

“Consider for a moment that the average Chinese citizen uses less than 50 pounds of paper each year compared with more than 700 pounds per American,” he told the chamber group. “As industrialization and literacy grow in Asia, paper usage there will increase dramatically.”

Overseas holdings would bring Weyerhaeuser closer to such developing markets, he said.

Creighton, in a brief interview Wednesday following the chamber speech, said the purchase of timberlands outside this country is a goal of the company. “I am confident we will own timberlands overseas by the end of the year,” he said.

Weyerhaeuser owns 5.7 million acres of forest in the United States and leases 19 million acres of government-owned land in Canada.

Unlike some competitors, Weyerhaeuser has not made any foreign timber purchases.

“Even though we’ve been very successful with our international business, I believe we’re just getting started,” Creighton said in his speech.

Weyerhaeuser established a $1.5 billion global timber fund with another international investor two years ago for the purposes of buying land.

Weyerhaeuser was outbid last year for 464,500 acres in timber rights in New Zealand.

Much of the forests sought by Weyerhaeuser in countries such as Australia, Chile and New Zealand have been carefully pruned to create knot-free, high quality wood.

Similar trees on Weyerhaeuser land in North America need another 10 to 20 years to reach maturity for harvest, but “we’d like to start selling that kind of lumber internationally this year,” Creighton said.