DHA eNews - Canadian Formaldehyde Regulations Draw Comments
Decorative Hardwoods Association and HPVA Laboratories® submitted comments on the draft Canadian Composite Wood Rule, encouraging harmonization with EPA TSCA VI testing and certification requirements. DHA emphasized the importance of avoiding creating an unintentional "dumping ground" in Canada for non-compliant products by instituting a different system. The Composite Panel Association also filed comments.
Photo © HPVA Laboratories®
In a positive development that resolves years of uncertainty over where federal jurisdiction begins and ends, EPA rescinded the Obama-era "Waters of the U.S.” rule on September 12. In August, the U.S. District Court for Georgia found that the substance of the rule violates the Clean Water Act.
The global plywood industry has been negatively affected by the U.S.-China trade war and the slowdown of China's economy. China still uses most of the world's plywood, accounting for 64% of total consumption with 101 million cubic meters. China's consumption is six times higher than the U.S., which is the world's second-largest consumer of plywood at 16 million cubic meters.
The price of New Zealand logs shipped to China has collapsed. As a result, logs from New Zealand - mostly radiata pine - are still sitting at Chinese ports instead of being purchased and shipped to construction projects inland. Log prices are down by 15% on a take it or leave it basis.
Vietnam's exports of timber products brought in US$7.08 billion in the first eight months of 2019. Key destinations for Vietnam's forestry exports are the U.S., Japan, the EU, China, and the Republic of Korea. Exports to the U.S. were primarily interior wood products, construction wood, and plywood.
This video, showcasing twenty fascinating wood products, has been watched nearly 17 million times since it was introduced in February 2018. See why for yourself!
Competition in the 2019 Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge was particularly strong this year, with more than 120 entries that demonstrated skillful, creative work with veneer. The grand prize winner: Kirk Coryn of Kirk Kreations, who submitted an Art Nouveau-style bed with incredible detail in veneer marquetry.
Today's home buyers are looking for open floor plans, neutral colors, and hardwood floors. Buyers prefer hardwood floors throughout the home and many seek lighter wood finishes such as light walnut or white oak.
About 25 percent of Australians have already seen The Ultimate Renewable™ campaign, run by Forest and Wood Products Australia. Research shows the campaign is positively changing people's opinions about forestry and wood.
Foresters in British Columbia are closely monitoring an outbreak of spruce beetles in the northeast. Douglas fir beetles, the spruce bud worm, and more pests are wreaking havoc in the Cariboo forests around Williams Lake.
IBAMA has uncovered elaborate fraud schemes involving the theft and clearing of federal lands. The pace of destruction of the rain forest has increased by 60% this year. Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, made no secret of his plans to roll back environmental protections.
A new analysis from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project reports that 61% - a total of 4.4 million acres - of the Ecuadoran Chocó has been destroyed. One-fifth of the loss occurred between 2000 and 2018. The Chocó region is considered a biodiversity hotspot that is among the richest regions for plants in the western hemisphere.