What to do?

[Joseph Zorzin]

Larry Caldwell wrote:
> 
> In article <1998082322561000.SAA22176 at ladder03.news.aol.com>,
> wudman69 at aol.com says...
> 
> > The above post is not indicitive of the Southern U.S.  Timber or timberland  in
> > the South is a viable and fairly safe investment.  Many areas of the south are
> > harvesting plantation wood on a 20-25 year rotation.  Here in Virginia, we are
> > commercially thinning stands of loblolly pine as early as 12 years of age.
> > Many investors are taking advantage of these opportunities in the South.
> 
> Short rotation timber is just biomass, with little intrinsic value or
> biomass.  There's nothing to do with a 12-year tree but feed it into a
> chipper or maybe make a $2 fencepost.
> 
> It's true that the south is a great area for growing pulp.  At $20 to $30
> a ton, you better have a lot of it.
> 
> -- Larry

It doesn't have to be profitable - the pulp- as long as the upstream
products are profitable- paper. If the paper companies own the pulp
lands, they can play with the numbers and make it look profitable or
NOT, depending on their accountants. But paper is a BIG business and
always will be because you can't import ordinary paper from our "slave"
factories in China, it's too expensive to transport- unlike those $150
tennis shoes.