Foreign buyers are seeking out Wisconsin timber. The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection recently hosted an international trade tour to connect international buyers to local lumber manufacturers.
The mission, funded by the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports, introduced wood and forestry product buyers from India, Mexico, Taiwan, and Thailand in business meetings and tours with nearly a dozen Wisconsin-based forestry products companies.
Krueger Lumber Company near Chilton was one of the stops along the way. Vice President Larry Krueger says the trade mission was successful in getting the word out about what Wisconsin has to offer.
“They like the quality of our product and they like the grainy look of American hardwood,” he says. “Some Americans are kind of tired of the grainy, some would consider almost old-fashioned looking (wood), but overseas, that’s a very popular look. They like the color, and the hardness, and they like to see that it’s a renewable resource.”
He says exports are also growing as the middle class grows in other countries. Krueger adds Wisconsin has enough product that lumber manufacturers welcome new export opportunities. However, he notes the tour highlighted some trade infrastructure improvements the state can address to make exporting easier, particularly in the rail system.
“Unfortunately, there’s not a real good rail network for exporting here in Wisconsin,” he says. “We have some rail yards way in the Northwest part of the state… but if you’re in more central or Eastern part of the state, you pretty much have to go down to Chicago.”
He says potential buyers in the trade tour were concerned about how Krueger Lumber Company would get its product exported out of Wisconsin with the high cost of transporting it to Chicago.
See a previous story from Mid-West Farm Report on the recent lumber trade tour: https://www.midwestfarmreport.com/2023/07/20/lumber-another-quality-product-from-wisconsin/
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