Weyerhaeuser has broken ground on a $500 million plant in Arkansas to produce engineered lumber from the small trees that have piled up across the pine belt after the closure of many pulp and paper mills. It is a big bet on one of the most depressed commodities in America: pine trees that are too small, crooked or otherwise unfit for making lumber. The decline of pulp and paper mills has left some timberland owners with wood they can’t sell. Several ventures have sought to capitalize on the pulpwood glut, including burning it to generate electricity and manufacturing oriented strand board. Weyerhaeuser’s plant will be largely heated and powered by burning bark, branches and sawdust, but its gambit is more like making OSB. …Chief Executive Devin Stockfish expects the Arkansas plant to sell out its 10 million cubic feet of annual production once it opens in 2027. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]