Panel World magazine and its affiliates will be exhibiting at the upcoming international wood products fair, Ligna, to be held May 15-19 in Hannover, Germany. In addition to Panel World, the Hatton-Brown organization, which dates back to 1948 in Montgomery, Ala., today publishes five business magazines geared to the wood products industry. These include:

• Panel World (covering the North America and international structural and non-structural wood panel industries

• Timber Processing (covering the North America and international softwood and hardwood sawmill industries)

• Wood Bioenergy (covering the North America and international wood-to-energy industries including industrial wood pellets, biomass electricity and biofuels)

• Timber Harvesting (covering the North America and international in-woods harvesting industry)

• Southern Loggin’ Times (covering the Southern U.S. logging industry)

Panel World serves as the media host of the biennial Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), with the ninth edition scheduled March 14-15, 2024 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga.

Timber Processing, Panel World and Wood Bioenergy serve as the media hosts of the biennial Timber Processing & Energy Expo, with the sixth edition scheduled September 25-27, 2024 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore.

Wood Bioenergy serves as the media host of the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, with the eighth edition scheduled March 12-13, 2024 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga.

All three of these events are produced by Hatton-Brown and its affiliates.

At Ligna, Hatton-Brown will be represented by Editor-in-Chief Rich Donnell and International Sales Specialist Murray Brett.

LP Building Solutions (LP) and Forex Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement for LP to acquire the assets owned by Wawa OSB Inc., a subsidiary of Forex Inc. The manufacturing facility in Wawa, Ontario will be converted into an LP SmartSide trim and siding mill. The transaction, which is subject to court approval and customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early May 2023.

“LP SmartSide Trim & Siding has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, becoming one of the fastest-growing siding brands in the United States,” says Jason Ringblom, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Siding. “In response to customer demand, we continue to expand our capacity across North America to position SmartSide for long-term growth. Our acquisition of Forex Inc.’s Wawa facility is a great addition to our fleet of siding mills and perfect example of how we are investing in the future of SmartSide.”

Structurlam Mass Timber Corp. has filed for bankruptcy protection and agreed to sell the company’s new Conway, Ark. CLT plant and its Canadian assets for $60 million, pending court approval.

Structurlam entered the asset-purchase agreement with Mercer International Inc., a global forest products company which operates a mass timber facility in Spokane, Wash. However, Mercer’s purchase is subject to a better offer in a court-monitored process.

The Conway facility opened in 2021 in a project that was pitched as a long-term $90 million investment to establish Structurlam’s first U.S. plant. The investment was tied to a deal to produce 1.7 million cubic feet of mass timber for Walmart’s new corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. But in January Structurlam suspended operations in Conway after Walmart canceled work with the manufacturer. The move led to about 144 employees being laid off.

“I am delighted and grateful for Mercer’s vote of confidence in Structurlam and in its leadership in the mass timber industry,” Structurlam Chief Executive Officer Matthew Karmel said in a statement. “It is especially rewarding given the difficult period the company has had since suspending its operations in Arkansas mid-January, and it will help in normalizing the plant operations going forward.”