Excellence in Core Timber Business - Doug Long
Doug Long, EVP and Chief Resource Officer presents at Rayonier's 2024 Investor Day.
Executive Vice President & Chief Resource Officer, Rayonier
Search every verified Douglas Long interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Douglas Long, Executive Vice President and Chief Resource Officer at Rayonier, presented at the company's 2024 Investor Day, where he discussed the company's core timber business. He stated that Rayonier's 97 years of managing forests and timber markets remain the core of its business, and he expressed confidence in long-term secular tailwinds from decarbonization, population growth, and underbuilt housing. Long noted that the company's foresters and research team are focused on adapting to changing climates and using technology to grow timber returns. He highlighted that the company's largest timber segment has the cheapest lumber production costs in North America at $312, and he described a roughly 5 million house underbuild gap in the United States from 2006 to 2016 as a significant opportunity. Long also discussed market dynamics, saying that China's construction troubles are well known but that expanding markets in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, are growing rapidly. He stated that the New Zealand government is implementing a plan to increase domestic wood products manufacturing by 25%, and that Rayonier's sustainable cut is well positioned to help fill a projected harvest gap in New Zealand. In a 2022 video, Long said he has been with Rayonier for over 25 years, starting as a forester, and expressed pride in the company's growth from roughly 700,000 acres to over 2.5 million acres, stating that having the ability to influence that much land in a positive way is important.
“With the focus on decarbonization, population growth, and underbuilt housing, we believe there are strong long-term secular tailwinds upon which to also grow this business.”
“Our foresters and research team are focused on adapting to changing climates and utilizing advances in technology to organically grow our timber returns on each acre of our ownership.”
“There is value in being a pure play timber REIT that is upstream in the value chain where there is less volatility, with timber margins averaging 34% over the past two decades compared to manufacturing's single-digit EBIT margins.”
“Sustainable forest management means harvesting growth while meeting all water quality requirements, biodiversity, and adapting for climate change, ensuring forest products are managed well and sustainably.”
Doug Long, EVP and Chief Resource Officer presents at Rayonier's 2024 Investor Day.
Senior Vice President of Forest Resources Doug Long has been with Rayonier for more than 25 years, starting as a forester andΒ ...
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