In a bid to enhance operational efficiency, an Oregon-based lumber company is set to establish Gaston as the site of North America's fastest sawline.
On Thursday, June 27, Stimson Lumber Company unveiled plans to install a $50 million high-speed sawline at its 95-year-old facility in Washington County. The new technology marks a move toward increased production capacity — and a market opportunity for private timber owners.
“We are excited about the investment in this new technology for multiple reasons,” Andrew Miller, chief executive officer of Stimson, said in a release. “On one hand, we are making a commitment to long-term operations at Stimson’s oldest mill site and the economic and workforce impacts the mill brings to the community.”
Produced by Finland manufacturer Veisto Oy, the 350-foot-long HewSaw line will process logs between four and 16 inches in diameter at a rate of 70 eight-foot blocks per minute — making it the highest-speed sawline in the continent. Currently, the mill produces about 100 million board feet of two-by-four and two-by-six studs annually with its existing sawline, but Miller anticipates production will triple once the new technology is fully operational.
The investment also opens doors for private forest landowners across Oregon, according to Miller. With the new sawline, Stimson will be able to process smaller diameter timber that is traditionally relegated to pulp or forced to grow before becoming marketable.
“Not only will timber owners have another market for their resource, but they aren’t in a position to have to wait another eight years for timber to mature before harvest,” Stimson said in a release.
“The new mill will be one of the most efficient and productive sawmills in North America, which is Stimson’s goal with the investment,” Miller said.
Gaston’s mill currently employs 90 people, but Miller acknowledged how the new technology will “ultimately require fewer employees once operational.”
The news emerges during a precarious time for the local timber industry, following Hampton Lumber shuttering its Banks sawmill earlier this year . The company cited the closure as a result of limitations in log supply from tightening state restrictions.
In February 2023, Stimpson announced that output at both its Clatskanie and Gaston operations would curtail by 30% due to labor constraints, raw material shortages and rising costs.
According to Stimson, the recent investment leverages 175,00 acres in adjacent timberlands, which the company says will account for more than half of the mill’s timber supply.
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