WASHINGTON —
In an interview with Spectrum News in October, Ray White explained how President Donald Trump’s tariff policies had reduced profits at his family-owned sawmill in Rowan County, Kentucky.
“Most of the time, we’ve been losing money, and I can speak for the industry as a whole,” he said.
What You Need To Know
Ray White serves as president and CEO of a family-owned sawmill in Rowan County
In an October interview with Spectrum News, he described how President Donald Trump’s tariff policies had cut into profits
White said the tariff issue has eased somewhat, but a new concern has emerged: rising diesel prices
White said he now pays more than $5 per gallon for diesel in Kentucky, while out-of-state prices have climbed from $3.60 before the war to over $6 per gallon
Six months later, White said the tariff issue has improved slightly, but a new challenge has created what he called “a perfect storm” — diesel fuel prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
“A 40 to 50% rise in our fuel cost in the last eight weeks was something that we never saw coming and could not have expected,” White said.
White said he is paying more than $5 per gallon for diesel in Kentucky, with out-of-state prices rising from $3.60 before the war to over $6 per gallon.
With more than three dozen mill vehicles, including forklifts and trucks running on diesel, the costs quickly add up.
“All of our vendors are beginning to add fuel surcharges, and those are non-negotiable,” said White. “We have to pay that, but yet we’re not seeing that reflected in our lumber prices. So all aspects … right down to all of our employees that are carpooling now because they can no longer afford to drive individually.”
White said his concerns are not political but focused on the rising cost of getting products to market.
“If we don’t get some type of relief with the cost of manufacturing, I hate to use the word ‘pessimistic,’ but I’m certainly not optimistic about where we’re going to be in the next 12 months,” said White. “I have 150, 160 families that rely upon us to be successful, but I’m losing all of my options. You cannot cut your way into profits.”
White plans to travel to Washington in June with others in the hardwood industry to meet lawmakers and share their concerns.
A White House spokesperson, Taylor Rogers, said in a statement to Spectrum News:
“President Trump and his entire energy team have had a plan in place to mitigate any short-term disruptions to the energy markets and have continued to quickly take action when necessary: providing political risk insurance from the United States Development Finance Corporation to cargo ships in the Gulf, coordinating with our allies a release of 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves, issuing a 60-day Jones Act waiver to let energy flow more freely to U.S. ports, and temporarily freeing up sanctioned oil to alleviate pressure in the global market.”
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