Guarantees (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Guarantees [Abstract]

Guarantees [Text Block]

9. GUARANTEES

The Company provides financial guarantees as required by creditors, insurance programs, and state and foreign governmental agencies. As of March 31, 2012, the following financial guarantees were outstanding:

Financial Commitments	Maximum Potential Payment		Carrying Amount of Liability
Standby letters of credit (a)	$	43,477	$	38,110
Guarantees (b)	2,555		43
Surety bonds (c)	6,134		1,330
Total financial commitments	$	52,166	$	39,483

(a) Approximately $39 million of the standby letters of credit serve as credit support for industrial revenue bonds. The remaining letters of credit support various insurance related agreements, primarily workers’ compensation and pollution liability policy requirements. These letters of credit will expire at various dates during 2012 and 2013 and will be renewed as required.

(b) In conjunction with a timberland sale and note monetization in the first quarter of 2004, the Company issued a make-whole agreement pursuant to which it guaranteed $2.6 million of obligations of a special-purpose entity that was established to complete the monetization. At March 31, 2012, the Company has a de minimus liability to reflect the fair market value of its obligation to perform under the make-whole agreement.

(c) Rayonier issues surety bonds primarily to secure timber harvesting obligations in the State of Washington and to provide collateral for the Company’s workers’ compensation self-insurance program in that state. These surety bonds expire at various dates between 2012 and 2014 and are expected to be renewed as required.