Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World July 2023 – As has often been the case in my previous trips there, perhaps the leading topic of conversation at the Ligna show in Hannover, Germany in mid-May was the status of multiple new projects back in the United States, such as Roseburg’s new MDF plant in…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World May 2023 – In May, I depart for my 17th consecutive Ligna in Hannover, Germany. If the pandemic hadn’t canceled the event in 2021, I suppose this would have been 18. Regardless, I’m sure by now you’re thinking this guy…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World January 2023 – Some forecasts coming out of APA—The Engineered Wood Association annual meeting in October painted a rather bleak economics picture for 2023. It was no surprise, given the already downward trending in housing…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World November 2022 – As I glanced through the pages of the six issues of Panel World in 2022, various news developments refreshed my memory, but underlying it all was just the fact that business for the most part was conducted as usual. That we were back to…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World September 2022 – If you think the pandemic caused the death of live trade shows, think again. Just take one quick browse through the Panel World September 2022 issue. In fact, trade shows almost snowballed us over this month…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World July 2022 – Sometimes the mention of a wood products plant rings as true as an old ballpark. Houlton, as in Houlton, Maine, is one example. You might say Louisiana-Pacific has been playing at the same Houlton…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World May 2022 – At the risk of repeating myself (what the heck, I’ll be 67 in September), I remember at the beginning of the 2020 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) in Atlanta, as I spoke to the gathering on the first morning, when I referred to one of the scenes in the movie, “Saving Private Ryan.” It was the…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World March 2022 – While reading a draft of this issue’s cover story on Roseburg’s new LVL plant in Chester, SC, representing Roseburg’s first ever greenfield project in the South, I glanced at the letter that I’ve always kept on the bulletin board up and behind my iMac monitor…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World January 2022 – The staff at Panel World magazine is in full in-person-conference mode in preparation for the eighth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) to be held March 31 to April 1 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta…

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World November 2021 – Given that Panel World is published six times per year, the November issue before your eyes represents the final issue of 2021. I’ve read through the six issues and pulled a few highlights of what went on in the panel world in 2021 as reported by Panel World…