In Mississippi — and especially southwest Mississippi — timber is a growth industry.
Last week, KiOR — the alternative fuels company with plans to build a cellulosic fuel production facility using pine as feedstock near Adams County’s port — announced it had begun continuous production in its Columbus facility and company officials said they anticipate a late 2013 or early 2014 groundbreaking in Natchez.
The plans for the Adams County facility call for more than a million tons of timber annually, and Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said that wood is planned to be sourced from the local and regional woodbasket.
“It means it has the potential to be an extremely large opportunity for all of the forestry community in our general area, from the log to the logger to procurement — all the way through,” Russ said. “I know that KiOR is currently working with and has been in some discussions already with area timber people starting to procure (wood).”
That companies looking to use timber as a source product would locate in Mississippi is no surprise. With approximately 19.5 million acres of timberland, 65 percent of Mississippi is covered with forests. When considering the availability of timberland in the state, the Mississippi Development Authority’s Jeff Rent said the state has been “blessed.”
From The Natchez Democrat: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2013/07/07/timber-ready-to-explode-with-new-industries/