By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTTimber is at the root of Rayonier’s business. Founded in 1926 as the Rainier Pulp and Paper Company with an office in San Francisco, CA, its first mill opened the next year in Shelton, WA. Today Rayonier is a global forest products company with approximately 2.4 million acres of timber land in nine U.S. states as well as New Zealand. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in Fernandina Beach, FL, whereas its New Zealand operation is headquartered in Auckland. Heavy U.S. Southeast Concentration In the United States the company’s heaviest concentration of forests are found in the Southeast. The company operates two mills in the United States: one in Jesup, GA; the other in Fernandina Beach. “The one in Jesup has the equivalent of three factories that produce different lines of product,” commented Terry Bunch, director of transportation and distribution for Rayonier at the Georgia Logistics Summit in Atlanta in May. He pointed out how, on the manufacturing side, Rayonier is a high end niche player in forest products. “Everything we do is made to order,” he said. Using a specific recipe of wood and chemicals, products are developed into higher uses such as high speed tires, diet food, tooth paste, pharmaceuticals, LCD screens, cigarette filters, disposable diapers, even ice cream. Rayonier is particularly known for producing two types of high quality performance fibers: cellulose specialties – which are used in everything from filters and LCD screens to pharmaceuticals – and fluff pulp, which is used in disposable diapers and other absorbent products. Transportation Mix In shipping its materials, Bunch explains that Rayonier is a heavy rail user. “We move about 20,000 rail cars per year,” he told AJOT in a separate interview. “For exports, we export the equivalent of about 50,000 TEUS annually. Approximately 10 percent of that is via break bulk to North Europe.” The remainder is shipped primarily by container. Some 80 percent of its containerized freight exports through the Port of Savannah, 10 percent through the Port of Jacksonville. In fact, Rayonier is one of the Port of Savannah’s larger exporters. The company, itself, claims to be one of the top 20 exporters in the United States. Another 5 percent is exported via the Port of Charleston, with the remaining 5 percent of its volume being exported through Georgia’s Port of Brunswick. The company uses the Port of Brunswick for all of its break bulk shipments. A press release revealed that some two-thirds of Rayonier’s products head abroad to 240 ports in 60 countries. “We have a global footprint,” Bunch reported. “Our best growing market by far is China. Canada and the United States contribute about 37 percent of our sales, with the United States at about 33 percent. This is declining with China taking up and growing.” He revealed at the Summit that the company moves about 125,000 trucks per year. When asked by AJOT why Rayonier continues to ship a portion of its product via break bulk instead of entirely by container, Bunch explained that shipping via break bulk is conducive to the infrastructure of many of Rayonier’s European customers. “These customers have limited warehouse space and docks that may not be capable of efficiently unloading containers,” he pointed out. “And from a capacity perspective, it is a good alternative for the movement of high volume shipments.” A downside, he added, however, is that shipping via break bulk requires much more product handling than shipping via container. “This can make it a challenge from a product damage perspective.,” he reported. All Rayonier break bulk shipments are exported via the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) port in Brunswick, GA. “The reason is because the staff at GPA and SSA (stevedore for Grieg Star Shipping) do a great job ensuring only the highest quality product is delivered to our customers,” he explained. When transporting its br