by Web Editor | Mar 5, 2018 | News
Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association has just rebranded as the Decorative Hardwoods Association and launched an easy-to-navigate website packed with resources for trade professionals, manufacturers, and consumers.
“This name change will better describe our diverse membership of North American hardwood plywood, engineered wood flooring, and hardwood veneer manufacturers,” said Don Finkell, chairman of the board of directors of Decorative Hardwoods Association.
The new Decorative Hardwoods Association website highlights the benefits of American-made, real wood products. “We are passionate about showcasing the beauty and craftsmanship of real engineered wood and demonstrating our dedication to sustainable forest management and ethical, legal sourcing of timber throughout the world,” said Kip Howlett, president of Decorative Hardwoods Association.
The resources provided by the Decorative Hardwoods Association include where to buy quality, American-made engineered wood products, information on members’ commitment to sustainable forest management, and how certification and testing protect consumers – and the world’s forests. In addition, more opportunities have been added for members to feature their products and services.
“We care deeply about our forests and our products which maximize the yield from those resources,” said Howlett. “Our association is a legacy that has been handed down from one generation to the next for more than 97 years.”
Read more on this from Woodworking Network at https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/hpva-rebrands-decorative-hardwoods-association?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news.
by Web Editor | Feb 19, 2018 | News
SmartLam Eyes $22 Million Maine Expansion For CLT Production
The nation’s first manufacturer of cross-laminated timber plans to set up shop in Maine, with a goal of creating 100 jobs at a $22 million mill, officials said Friday.
SmartLam, LLC of Montana still seeks a mill site, but has committed to building a factory in Maine within 18 months. Founded in 2012, the company produces more than 1 million board feet of the engineered wood product per month and employs 40 people in Montana’s Flathead Valley, SmartLam President Casey Malmquist said. “It is down to two sites right now,” Malmquist said in a telephone interview on Friday. “I’m just waiting to get further feedback on both of those sites and then we will be making our decision.”
“I don’t want to disclose them because I don’t want to influence the deal,” he added. “I think if they can kind of come up organically on their own rather than be influenced by one another it would be a more straightforward deal.”
SmartLam is the second maker of cross-laminated timber, a composite wood strong enough to replace steel and concrete in some types of high-rise buildings, to announce Maine expansion plans this week.
LignaTerra Global LLC of Charlotte, North Carolina announced plans at Husson University on Tuesday to build a $30 million, 300,000-square-foot factory to produce CLT in Millinocket. The company hopes to break ground in July and start production in 12 months with more than 100 workers.
From Bangor Daily News: bangordailynews.com.
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by Web Editor | Jan 3, 2018 | News
Modular construction, using timber as a key element, is a credible solution to fast and sustainable house building. However, Metsä Wood believes that more needs to be done in terms of sharing knowledge and innovation in wood construction to further advance the use of this material in mainstream construction.
In order to help facilitate this process, Metsä Wood has launched its Open Source Wood initiative at www.opensourcewood.com. Metsä Wood’s Executive Vice President, Esa Kaikkonen, explains: “Not enough knowledge about modular wood design and building is shared, so wood construction remains niche. There is plenty of innovation but it is difficult to find, so Open Source Wood is our solution. We believe that with open collaboration the industry can achieve significant growth.”
The potential of wood is undeniable and today, offsite construction has major aspirations. Prefabricated wood elements enable fast, efficient and environmentally sound design without reducing quality. Reports on the benefits of such a lean approach are compelling: In a study of companies that have applied lean construction methods, 84% report higher quality in construction and 80% experienced greater customer satisfaction.
The report also highlights that almost 70% of projects that used prefabricated elements had shorter schedules and 65% had decreased budgets. Timber prefab construction also reduces other inconveniences such as the constant unloading of building materials, as well as the amount of on-site waste and the need to transport it.
Innovation in the house building sector is key, and offsite timber construction could be key in achieving the high volume of housing required. Using new and innovative products like Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), homes constructed offsite can be turned around in a matter of weeks. Modern engineered wood products can be used for a variety of housing projects ranging from terraced and detached homes through to apartment blocks several stories high.
From Business Insider: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/Metsa-Wood-Calls-for-Collaboration-in-Timber-Innovation-1012195818
by Web Editor | Dec 13, 2017 | News
The likelihood of strong profits from the wood products business, alongside higher prices and growth in paper packaging from increased e-commerce demand, will help to offset the secular declines in the printing and writing paper segment, says Moody’s Investors Service in its annual sector outlook published recently. As a result, the outlook for the global paper and forest products sector will remain stable in 2018.
“The stable outlook for paper and forest products globally next year is underpinned by an expected 2%-4% growth of our rated paper and forest products companies, as strength in the wood products and paper packaging subsectors offset decreased demand for commodity paper as the shift to digital-first alternatives continues,” says Ed Sustar, a Moody’s Senior Vice President and author of the report.
On a subsector basis, the positive outlook for wood products and timberland is buoyed by improving strong end-market demand for timber, lumber, oriented strand board (OSB) and engineered wood products as US housing starts increase about 6%, or approximately 1.28 million units, in 2018.
Bolstered by the robust demand emanating from the US homebuilding market, average lumber prices are expected to remain strong, with increased production capacity aligning to support the demand, Moody’s says. Nevertheless, analysts caution that the tight lumber markets will allow countervailing anti-dumping duties assessed on Canadian lumber exported to the US to be passed on to consumers. The issuers most expected to benefit from a combination of higher lumber prices and little-to-no lumber tariffs include Potlatch Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser Company and Rayonier Inc.
From Moody’s Investors Service: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Wood-product-growth-supports-2018-stable-outlook-offsetting-commodity–PR_377021
by Web Editor | Aug 30, 2017 | News
Engineered wood is also known as man-made wood or composite wood, and these are quite popular in recent times due to their cost effective and ecofriendly properties. These woods are formed of composite materials manufactured by binding the strands, fibers and particles all together with the help of suitable adhesives. These engineered woods can be made by utilizing wastes such as sawmill waste, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw and other wood wastes thus making them cost effective and environmentally friendly. Engineered wood is mainly used as a substitute to hardwood and concrete.
In many construction building projects, the products of engineered wood are used as an alternative of steel in beams. One of the advantages offered by engineered wood products is that it can be designed as per the demand and custom specifications of the end user. The main users of engineered wood products are construction developers, architects, designers etc. Promotion of green life and regulations concerning deforestation has led the global engineered wood market to expand with a decent pace.
Government norms and regulations such as Bharat stage emission standards or European emission standards regarding CO2 emissions are driving the market for engineered wood at whole different level. Owing to the factors like cost efficiency, enhanced quality, waste reduction and environmentally friendly nature, the engineered wood market is expected to witness significant growth in the market. There are certain innovations in the technologies and machining systems have been developed in order to improve the efficiency and quality of the products which are expected to further drive growth of the market.
Although the global engineered wood market has potential opportunities in the future still the manufacturers of engineered wood products face some challenges regarding durability and fire resistant properties of engineered wood products. There are certain adhesives like Urea-formaldehyde used in the manufacturing of engineered wood products which are quite toxic. Also some products such as particleboard may not be suitable for outdoor use as they are more prone to humidity. The ongoing developments regarding advanced grading and better material selection techniques is expected to result in improved definition of timber quality and efficient performance of the products.
From LANEWS.org: https://www.lanews.org/growing-industrialization-will-influence-the-engineered-wood-market-growth-2017-2027/
