Yes, you read that right: Cocaine plywood is a thing, along with lumber and timber, part of a growing trend of drug gangs to soak liquid cocaine into wood products, concealing the drug during shipment then reconstituting it at its destination. Irish customs officials, as part of an effort that included multiple countries and law enforcement groups, recently seized more than 150 pounds of the drug along with a mobile cocaine processing lab set up in a truck trailer and “infused” plywood panels ready for processing. After shipping the product, drug traffickers then grind it up and use chemicals and solvents to extract the cocaine back into powder form. Ireland is just the latest location for cocaine-infused forest product seizures. According to news reports, earlier this year Australian authorities seized six tons of timber planks they estimated contained 220 lbs. of cocaine soaked in. In August, Spanish authorities announced they had dismantled four cocaine processing labs used to extract cocaine from wood and other products. And in South America, Chilean and Bolivian officials are arguing about a shipment of hardwood that Chilean authorities say has cocaine in it but Bolivia says it’s a false positive.

The facility uses the latest generation DUOZINK 12 finger-jointing machine. The line is complemented by a newly developed block storage system with fully automatic destacking. A hydraulic TimberPress V 220 flex is used to manufacture straight GLT up to 60 ft. in length. The pressing force is applied from above, ensuring a uniform, high-quality bond. A downstream finishing planer then performs the necessary planing for standard beams and block-glued beams.

One focus of the project is the production of curved structural beams. In collaboration with Arbonis, Minda developed the new TimberPress C 500 flex. This machine enables the cost-effective production of curved glulam beams up to 147 ft. in length.

The pressing concept differs significantly from conventional methods: The packages to be pressed—consisting of up to two beams—are loaded into the press bed by crane. The press automatically shapes the press package before the tie rods are tightened. Afterward, the shaped press package is placed next to the press, where it can cure, creating a continuous and flexible production flow throughout the shift.

The entire manufacturing process is controlled by Minda’s intuitive FlowMate user interface which supports employees through every step of the process and provides a transparent overview of the entire production process. 

Installation at Arbonis is currently ongoing. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2027. This project will not only create new production capacity for the French market but also deliver innovative solutions to drive the sustainable advancement of glued laminated timber manufacturing.

Minda and one of France’s leading timber construction companies are currently carrying out an extraordinary project: For Arbonis, a VINCI Group company, a fully automated production line is being built in Chemillé-en-Anjou to manufacture straight glued laminated timber and large-format curved beams.

For more than 40 years, Arbonis has been a recognized market leader in timber construction, supporting construction projects from planning to completion. With its own planning and engineering offices and three production sites, the company develops sophisticated timber construction solutions for a wide variety of applications.

The first contact between Arbonis and Minda took place in 2024. The goal was to find a partner to build a fully automated production line capable of economically producing both straight GLT and curved architectural beams. The aim was to create a future-proof solution with minimal operational effort.

Working closely with Arbonis, Minda developed a plant layout for integrated production. From the feeding of the boards to the finished beams, the entire material flow is fully automated. The operator is primarily responsible for monitoring tasks, while all production steps are linked together.

The facility uses the latest generation DUOZINK 12 finger-jointing machine. The line is complemented by a newly developed block storage system with fully automatic destacking. A hydraulic TimberPress V 220 flex is used to manufacture straight GLT up to 60 ft. in length. The pressing force is applied from above, ensuring a uniform, high-quality bond. A downstream finishing planer then performs the necessary planing for standard beams and block-glued beams.

One focus of the project is the production of curved structural beams. In collaboration with Arbonis, Minda developed the new TimberPress C 500 flex. This machine enables the cost-effective production of curved glulam beams up to 147 ft. in length.

The pressing concept differs significantly from conventional methods: The packages to be pressed—consisting of up to two beams—are loaded into the press bed by crane. The press automatically shapes the press package before the tie rods are tightened. Afterward, the shaped press package is placed next to the press, where it can cure, creating a continuous and flexible production flow throughout the shift.

The entire manufacturing process is controlled by Minda’s intuitive FlowMate user interface which supports employees through every step of the process and provides a transparent overview of the entire production process. 

Installation at Arbonis is currently ongoing. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2027. This project will not only create new production capacity for the French market but also deliver innovative solutions to drive the sustainable advancement of glued laminated timber manufacturing.

LP Building Solutions (LP) will indefinitely curtail oriented strandboard (OSB) production at its Jasper, Tex. facility beginning in October 2026 in response to soft demand. The Jasper facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 475 MSF on a 3/8-in. basis. 

The decision follows a review of production requirements across LP’s manufacturing network and reflects current conditions in the OSB market. In evaluating its options, the company considered a range of factors, including operating costs, capital requirements, logistics, and long-term asset utilization. 

“Current market conditions require us to align OSB production with demand,” says LP CEO Jason Ringblom. “While the near-term environment for OSB remains challenging, we are confident in LP’s strategy and our ability to create long-term value. Taking action now allows us to operate efficiently through the cycle while maintaining the flexibility to respond as market conditions improve. This decision is not a reflection of the performance or commitment of the Jasper team, whose contributions have helped strengthen LP for many years.” 

The Forest Products Society (FPS) honored outstanding leaders, researchers and emerging professionals in the forest products industry during its 2026 Annual Excellence Awards, presented July 16 at the FPS International Conference Banquet at The Graduate Hotel in Eugene, Ore.

The annual awards recognize exceptional service to the Society, achievements in wood engineering, influential research and the next generation of professionals advancing wood science and technology.

Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award: Dr. Brian K. Via

Dr. Brian K. Via received the prestigious Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award, named for the first president of the Forest Products Society and presented in recognition of exceptional service to FPS by an individual member.

Via currently serves as President of the Forest Products Society and Editor-in-Chief of the Forest Products Journal. He was unable to attend the banquet as the conference coincided with his official start as the incoming Director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.

Previously, Via served as the Regions Bank Endowed Full Professor and Director of the Forest Products Development Center at Auburn University. His career bridges academia and 14 years of corporate research and development experience.

While serving as Wood Quality Project Leader at International Paper Corp., Via conducted Pinus taeda genetics research that drove a $13 million annual revenue increase. He later served as a Research Engineer at Louisiana-Pacific Corp., managing quality metrics across 14 North American plants and becoming the first inventing scientist behind FlameBlock fire-retardant composite technology.

Since becoming Editor-in-Chief of the Forest Products Journal in 2018, Via has helped significantly enhance the journal’s academic quality and global reach. An FPS member since 1996, he has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications and holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and degrees from Virginia Tech.

Wood Engineering Achievement Award, Young Engineer: Dr. Laya Khademibami

Dr. Laya Khademibami received the 2026 Wood Engineering Achievement Award in the Young Engineer category.

The award recognizes accomplishments and innovations in wood engineering, including structures, structural elements, building codes, consensus standards, design procedures and education. The Young Engineer category honors an engineer, researcher or scientist aged 40 or younger who has made valuable contributions to the field and demonstrates promising potential for continued impact.

Khademibami is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses on the performance, durability and engineering behavior of wood-based materials and structural systems, including mass timber, structural insulated panels, railroad ties, timber mats and environmentally friendly wood preservatives.

She has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory and State and Private Forestry Wood Innovation Grants Program.

Khademibami has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, and her work has contributed to greater understanding of the long-term structural performance, creep behavior and mechanical properties of engineered wood products, including contributions to industry standards and building code development.

L.J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award: Dr. Dilpreet Bajwa

Dr. Dilpreet Bajwa was named the recipient of the 2026 L.J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award, which encourages research and promotes knowledge of wood in the engineering field to enhance the efficient utilization of wood.

Established in 1969 by L.J. Markwardt, a charter member of FPS and longtime Assistant Director at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the award is presented annually to the author or authors of an outstanding technical paper published during the previous two calendar years in either the Forest Products Journal or Wood and Fiber Science.

Bajwa is Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman. Before entering academia, he spent 12 years in research and development leadership positions in the engineered biocomposites industry with International Paper Co., Masonite Corp. and Greenland Composites.

His research focuses on developing sustainable, multifunctional materials from renewable feedstocks and agricultural byproducts. Current areas of research include nanocellulosic materials, bio-based thermochemical energy storage materials, fire-retardant systems for polymer composites and the processing and characterization of biopolymers, carbon fiber and natural fiber composites.

Bajwa has authored more than 160 research papers and technical articles and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Industrial Crops and Products Journal.

FPS Wood Award: Roselle Barretto and Haoran Ye

FPS also recognized two emerging researchers with the 2026 FPS Wood Award, the Society’s most prestigious recognition for graduate research in wood and wood products.

Roselle Barretto, Ph.D., received First Place. Barretto is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the USDA Forest Service–Forest Products Laboratory, where his work centers on sustainable protein-based wood adhesives and bio-based materials.

He earned his Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University in 2025. His research examines plant protein adhesives through protein modification, adhesive formulation and wood composite testing. Barretto has authored more than 13 peer-reviewed publications and several industry magazine articles and has earned more than 60 international, national and university honors during his academic and professional career.

Haoran Ye received Second Place. A Ph.D. candidate in Wood Science and Technology at Nanjing Forestry University, Ye focuses on sustainable, high-performance wood-based functional materials, particularly electromagnetic interference shielding composites.

His research explores integrating metal-organic frameworks with wood-derived materials to improve electromagnetic shielding effectiveness, thermal conductivity, mechanical strength and multifunctional performance. His work seeks to combine wood’s renewable characteristics and hierarchical structure with emerging functional materials to develop environmentally friendly solutions for advanced engineering and industrial applications.

Distinguished Service Award: Dr. Bob Breyer

Bob Breyer received the 2026 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing outstanding dedication to the Forest Products Society and the biomaterials industry.

Breyer earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of New Orleans and completed postdoctoral studies at Duke University. In 1991, he joined Georgia-Pacific Resins, now Bakelite Synthetics, where he has spent nearly 35 years.

Throughout his career, Breyer has been an active member of both the Wood-Based Composites Center and the Forest Products Society. His FPS leadership roles have included serving as Vice President and President. During his tenure, he helped guide the Society through a transition to a new Executive Director while strengthening its financial stability and improving member support.

Breyer has also demonstrated a longstanding commitment to student development through his work with FPS and the Wood-Based Composites Center, helping prepare students for successful careers throughout the forest products industry.

Auburn University engineers are working with the U.S. Air Force to redesign deployable military housing using mass timber, with the goal of creating temporary barracks-style structures that can be assembled faster and perform better in cold-weather environments.

Led by Auburn Engineering, the project combines structural design, materials testing and prototype development with architecture and building science expertise from Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction. Battelle is partnering with the Air Force to build prototypes.

David Roueche, the Gottlieb Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering says the Air Force needs temporary housing that can be transported, assembled and occupied quickly. Mass timber gives the team a way to meet that need by shifting more work into prefabrication, reducing on-site assembly time and improving thermal performance for cold-weather deployments.

Existing light wood-frame versions can require four or five people working eight- to 10-hour days over four or five days to build one structure—roughly 160 to 200 person-hours, Roueche says.

One of the central engineering challenges is finding the right balance between strength, efficiency and deployability. The structures must be durable enough for demanding environments without being overbuilt or difficult to transport.

That has required researchers to look beyond simply replacing conventional framing with mass timber. Standard cross-laminated timber (CLT) may be stronger and thicker than needed for this type of deployable structure, Roueche adds.

“Standard CLT is almost overkill for this application,” Roueche says. “It provides more strength than we need, so part of the challenge is figuring out how to use mass timber more efficiently.”

The team is evaluating designs intended to improve structural performance while also protecting insulation inside the assembly, an important consideration for cold-weather use. Testing in Auburn’s Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory will help researchers verify the strength, stiffness and overall behavior of those designs.

According to Jake Elbrecht, assistant research professor in the McWhorter School of Building Science, a unique challenge in designing and constructing temporary housing is what happens at its end-of-life: “Air Force operations demand flexibility, and fixed housing impedes future redeployment. Designing temporary housing for disassembly and reuse accelerates redeployment and reduces long-term cost. Investigating structural performance, thermal performance and component reuse together reveals how these priorities compete and are weighed against one another in design decisions.”

The National Hardwood Lumber Assn. (NHLA) is applauding a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that clears the way for new trade duties on hardwood and decorative plywood imported from China, Indonesia and Vietnam. On August 19, the USITC issued affirmative final injury determinations covering hardwood and decorative plywood from the three countries. The decision follows U.S. Department of Commerce findings that the products are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value and are benefiting from government subsidies. As a result of the Commission’s decision, Commerce will issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders covering the affected imports.

In response to the determination, NHLA Executive Director Dallin Brooks says, “The USITC’s determination confirms what our industry has been warning about: China is deliberately trying to put American mom-and-pop hardwood companies out of business. We congratulate the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood, and we applaud the ruling because our country cannot afford to stand by. Our political leaders should seize this moment to pursue a comprehensive, all-of-government response. We must protect America’s domestic hardwood supply chain, which equips our military, moves our freight, and powers hundreds of thousands of American jobs.”

The decision represents the culmination of a trade case that began in May 2025, when the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions covering imports from China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Coalition members include Columbia Forest Products, Commonwealth Plywood, Manthei Wood Products, States Industries and Timber Products Co. Commerce’s investigations subsequently produced affirmative findings on both dumping and government subsidies. Preliminary antidumping findings issued earlier this year included substantial estimated dumping margins, while the countervailing duty investigations identified subsidy rates that varied considerably by country and producer.

Notably, the ruling does not encompass all plywood products from the three countries. The Commission’s affirmative determination covers hardwood and decorative plywood while excluding all softwood structural plywood. The Commission separately determined that imports of certain softwood structural plywood products covered by the investigation were negligible and terminated those portions of the case.

With the USITC’s affirmative determination now complete, Commerce will move forward with antidumping and countervailing duty orders on covered hardwood and decorative plywood imports from China, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Commission’s full public report detailing its findings is scheduled to be available by September 28.