Pulpwood Prices Sink to Historical Lows as Southern Paper Mills Close
Atlanta, Saturday, 29 August 2026.
Pulpwood prices in the American South have fallen nearly 50% from 2022 peaks to near 40-year lows, as major mill closures permanently eliminate millions of tons of wood demand.
Mill Closures and Employment Impact
The closure of major facilities has resulted in significant job losses across the region [2]. International Paper closed mills in Savannah and Riceboro, Georgia, in 2025, eliminating approximately 1,100 jobs [2]. Georgia-Pacific closed its Cedar Springs, Georgia, containerboard mill, resulting in approximately 535 job losses [2]. In Spring 2026, Domtar indefinitely idled its Coosa Pines pulp mill in Alabama, eliminating roughly 285 jobs [2]. The total job losses from these three major facilities amount to 1920 positions [2]. This wave of closures represents the biggest threat to the rural economy since the fall of King Cotton [1].
Market Capacity and Price Dynamics
Demand reduction has driven pulpwood prices to near 40-year lows [3]. Southern pine pulpwood prices averaged $5.96 per metric ton in Q4 2025, a 46% decline from the 2022 peak [2]. Last year, the U.S. shed roughly 10% of its capacity to produce containerboard [1]. International Paper’s closures alone eliminated 1 million metric tons of annual containerboard capacity [2]. Domtar’s idling of the Coosa Pines mill reduced annual market-pulp capacity by approximately 270,000 metric tons [2]. The U.S. Forest Service reported 66 mills drawing pulpwood from 13 Southern states in 2024 [2]. Total Southern pulpwood production dropped from 52.9 million cords in 2023 to 52.1 million cords in 2024 [2].
Land Use Shifts and Future Outlook
Landowners are evaluating long-term financial viability versus alternative land uses like solar or development [2]. ArborGen reported a greater than 20% drop in Southern pine seedling sales volume over the previous two fiscal years [2]. Industry experts suggest the region has a demand problem rather than a wood supply problem [4]. Investment in engineered wood product manufacturing is seen as a potential solution to create higher-value uses for wood [4]. Weyerhaeuser is constructing a approximately $500 million TimberStrand engineered-wood facility near Monticello, Arkansas, with production scheduled to begin in 2027 [2]. Maintaining healthy forests ultimately requires maintaining healthy markets for wood [4].