by Web Editor | Jun 11, 2018 | News
Hardwood manufacturers are looking at positive growth continuing in 2018, but they need to expect rising prices for both hardwood lumber and panel products.
According to a report from Forecon Inc., “Lumber prices for our major (by value) species have all shown heavy demand, and most have seen a consistent upward trend in price throughout 2017 and certainly coming into 2018.” Forecon Inc. is one of the oldest established professional forestry consulting firms operating in the hardwood regions of the Eastern United States.
Forecon is reporting high demand for ash lumber in the face of concerns about the emerald ash borer damaging ash timber resources. Another hardwood on the rise is black cherry, which is seeing higher demand, especially from export markets, particularly from China and other Asian countries. But there is also elevated demand in the domestic market.
There is continuing strong demand for hard maple, especially green lumber (not kiln-dried), and reports are that there has been a specific increase in demand from cabinet manufacturers. This is another case where strong export demand, especially in Asia, continues to boost the price. Soft maple is not in as much demand as hard maple, with prices actually dropping a bit in the first half of this year.
One of the steadiest and strongest species of all continues to be red oak, which has set record export levels in volume and dollars this past year, and both international and domestic are staying strong in 2018. Forecon predicts sustained high prices for oak, keeping prices high and possibly climbing even higher into the summer months.
Read more on this from Woodworking Network at https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/higher-prices-seen-hardwood-trends.
by Web Editor | Apr 23, 2018 | News
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) will not launch a new investigation into plywood imports from China for the time being. With this decision, the DOC dismissed a petition filed by four U.S. plywood producers on 15 February.
In the petition, the plaintiffs called for more far-reaching reviews to complement the investigation completed at the end of 2017. Specifically, they aimed to expand the subject of the probe into plywood made with softwood veneer faces. The companies report that a variety of Chinese plywood manufacturers have started to switch outer faces with softwood veneers in response to punitive duties imposed on hardwood plywood products at the start of the year.
Section 781c of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 allows the investigation to be expanded as long as the new object of the investigation only varies slightly from the grades covered to date. The probes conducted to date addressed laminated and unlaminated plywood with two or more layers whose top face solely consists of hardwood veneers or bamboo. Against this backdrop, the DOC feels that plywood with softwood outer faces cannot be seen as a minor product change to the object of the investigation.
From EUWID: https://www.euwid-wood-products.com/news/wood-based-panels/single/Artikel/us-no-new-investigation-into-plywood-imports-from-china.html
by Web Editor | Dec 11, 2017 | News
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the U.S. lumber industry is materially injured by Canadian government subsidies of their softwood lumber industry.
Voting 4-0 in favor of the U.S. lumber industry, the ITC ruling follows a U.S. Department of Commerce determination that imports of softwood lumber from Canada are sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized by the government of Canada. The antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber products have been collected pending the final demermination of the ITC.
“The U.S. Lumber Coalition fully supports the enforcement of America’s trade laws. The evidence presented to the ITC was clear – the massive subsidies that the Canadian government provides to its lumber industry and the dumping of lumber products into the U.S. market by Canadian companies cause real harm to U.S. producers and workers,” said U.S. Lumber Coalition Co-Chair and Co-President of Pleasant River Lumber Company, Jason Brochu.
“Now, with a level playing field, the U.S. lumber industry, and the 350,000 hardworking men and women who support it, can have the chance to compete fairly.” Pleasant River stamps each board with a Made in USA label at its Sanford, Maine sawmill.
Under the Trump Administration, the Department of Commerce, which operates the International Trade Commission, has been ratcheting up pressure on U.S. trading partners over what it sees as subsidies across several industries, beginning the forest products sector. Last week China was hit with a formal determination by the ITC that it subsidized plywood exports to the U.S., effectively dumping low-priced plywood to the detriment of the domestic manufacturers. The Department of Commerce is expected to pursue solar panel manufacturers in China in coming weeks.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/canadian-lumber-subsidies-harmed-us-producers-trade-commission-rules?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news
by Web Editor | Dec 6, 2017 | News
The International Trade Commission (ITC) issued its final determination, activating significant tariffs – nearly 200 percent – on some on imports of Chinese hardwood plywood, voting 4-0 that the domestic industry is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of these dumped and subsidized imports.
The trade group Coalition for the Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood, which initiated efforts to get tariffs on Chinese plywood twice before times, commended the unanimous decision by the ITC, as “meaningful relief” for the U.S. hardwood plywood manufacturers. The Coalition says 42 mills have closed many more have had to reduce capacity, with a loss of 52,000 jobs in the U.S., and $2 billion in wages.
“Today’s decision demonstrates that the U.S. Government will not tolerate unfair trade practices and will support American manufacturing and workers,” said Kip Howlett, president of the Hardwood Plywood Veneer Association. “This puts American interests first by standing up to the illegal imports of Chinese hardwood plywood.”
Less exuberant are furniture and kitchen cabinet makers that favor the less expensive plywood from China, including members of Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA), and other buyers who have lobbied against the ITC decision, which will lead to high tariffs. KCMA and other members of American Alliance for Hardwood Plywood – mostly distributors of Chinese plywood – expressed shock at the punitive tariffs that were not disclosed until President Trump returned from his recent trip to Asia following meetings with China’s President Xi.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/verdict-china-dumped-subsidized-plywood-injuring-usmills-says-itc?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news
by Web Editor | Sep 18, 2017 | News
A delegation from China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) visited Tacoma, Washington-based APA-The Engineered Wood Association and toured wood-framed building projects in Seattle on September 11.
The delegation, led by Director General Yu Binyang, was the highest level foreign government group to visit APA in recent years. In addition to APA, the trade visit was hosted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Lab (FPL), located in Madison, Wisconsin.
Representatives from the City of Bellevue, Wash. Planning and Development Department and U.S. Embassy Agricultural Trade Office in Beijing were also present.
The visit comes as China begins to formulate the nation’s timber structure construction development plan as part of the 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development. In a meeting held at APA headquarters in Tacoma, Director General Yu Binyang and other MOHURD representatives discussed opportunities and challenges around building with wood in China. Considerations included the importance of sustainability, green building, codes and standards, and further development of trade relations with the U.S.
“We were very pleased to host this Ministerial delegation from the People’s Republic of China,” said APA President, Edward Elias. “The caliber of this mission, in both the quality of participants and content, demonstrates the effectiveness of APA’s efforts to expand the interests of the North American wood products industry within this key Asian market.”
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/seeking-greener-construction-chinese-delegates-visit-us-wood?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news
