In Depth: U.S. Lumber And Structural Panel Trends

by | Mar 9, 2016 | News

With housing starts growing in both single-family and multifamily categories, lumber suppliers are looking to advance their product lines beyond the commodity mindset to help builders resolve more challenges. They also point to the many intangibles provided by suppliers that provide values beyond the initial price when considering options for dimensional lumber, OSB, plywood and structural panels.

“The trend we’re seeing with OSB panels is a move to enhance products in different ways,” says George Hendry, market development manager at Weyerhaeuser. “Builders are struggling with reduced levels of skilled labor, so they’re looking at enhanced panels to help them find ways to make products easier and faster to install. They want attributes that will enhance performance in the field.”

Adds Ray Peters, vice president of marketing at RoyOMartin, “Our new products are aimed at finding ways to decommoditize OSB and excel at all three factors that drive purchase decisions: price, quality and delivery. We want to stand out in that equation.”

Reducing processes and steps for installation has become a priority as builders face new challenges. “One headwind we face today is the shortage of skilled labor in many markets,” says Mary Jo Nyblad, commodity sales and marketing director at Boise Cascade. “Finding, training and retaining qualified employees at all levels of our industry will continue to be a challenge. We as an industry have done a poor job of marketing ourselves. We’re a well-kept secret, especially for young people. It’s a big blind spot.”

A prime focus for adding value has been protecting panels against moisture during the construction process and afterward, helping overcome issues with less efficient crews and eliminating the need for adding housewrap in a separate step. “Products that provide wet-weather protection are popular, as are those that need less sanding and prep time for framers and floor installers,” notes Weyerhaeuser’s Hendry.

From LBM Journal: https://www.lbmjournal.com/in-depth-lumber-and-structural-panels-2016/

Montana Mill To Be Largest CLT Plant In The World

by | Apr 1, 2015 | News

When completed, a new wood products plant at the Columbia Falls Industrial Park north of town will be the largest cross-laminated timber (CLT) plant in the world, Sen. Jon Tester learned during a meeting with city officials and business leaders at Freedom Bank on March 20.

SmartLam general manager Casey Malmquist said he’s in talks with the industrial park’s new Canadian owners about plans for construction of a new manufacturing plant to produce the giant wood panels. “We plan to quadruple our capacity, which will make us the largest CLT plant in the world,” Malmquist told Tester.

SmartLam’s panels are made with low-grade dimensional lumber from F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. that are sawn into smaller pieces and finger-jointed and planed into a 2-inch product that is then cross-laminated into large, heavy and very strong panels.

Currently the panels are being used in the oil industry for drilling rig platforms, bridges and roadways, but SmartLam wants to start producing panels for building construction, which is common in Europe.

Malmquist enumerated the environmental benefits of replacing concrete and steel with renewable and sustainable wood products.

From Hungry Horse News: https://www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/hungryhorsenews/expansion-will-make-smartlam-no-in-the-world/article_03c59e1c-d48a-11e4-90b8-fb43c4b37825.html