DHA eNews - China's Exports Of Plywood & Wood Furniture Plummet
China Customs reports that the country's exports of plywood in the first quarter of 2020 were 1.85 million cubic meters, plunging 85% vs. one year ago. Now, the three most important markets for China's plywood exports are the Philippines, the UK, and Japan.
U.S. hardwood flooring imports dropped 23% in the first quarter of this year despite an increase of 12% in March. In March, imports from China tumbled 85% to the lowest level in ten years as imports from Malaysia and Indonesia grew by 64% and 145%, respectively.
Huali Floors will invest $27 million to build its first U.S. headquarters in Murray County, GA. The company is a leading manufacturer of wood plastic composite flooring, vinyl tiles, and stone plastic composites.
The latest housing indicators - with one key exception - are showing signs of stabilization after the two-month pause due to the pandemic. The housing sector is currently underbuilt, creating pent-up demand and sensitivity to low interest rates. This puts the housing sector in a good position to recover faster than other sectors of the economy.
An auction of the Idaho Veneer Company's sawmill, veneer mill, rolling stock, and other buildings will be held June 17-24 in Post Falls, ID.
The Veneer Tech Craftsman's Challenge honors the best work in veneer design, worldwide, in a wide range of categories. All entries must be received by June 12. At stake is a grand prize of $3,000; category winners will each receive $1,000.
Capital Testing (formerly HPVA Laboratories®) welcomes the newest member of the team, Shane Page, a graduate of NC State University's Department of Sustainable Materials and Technology. Shane replaces an outgoing chemist and lab technician and will be responsible for performing formaldehyde emissions testing and conducting on-site inspections of wood products manufacturing facilities.
Indonesia has had second thoughts about plans to weaken rules for timber exports that likely would have led to illegal logging. In a regulation enacted on May 11, the Indonesia trade ministry reinstated the due diligence checks related to logging.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has published its 2020 State of the World's Forests: Forests, Biodiversity and People. Forests cover more than 30% of the world's land area. The report assesses the progress to date of meeting global targets on forest biodiversity and more.
Despite strong efforts to stop deforestation, the world continues to lose forest cover. While the latest assessment shows that forest loss is slowing, the world has lost valuable habitats that are home to about 80% of the planet's biodiversity.
Stora Enso will plan more than 41 million spruce, pine, and birch seedlings in Finland, Sweden, and Russia this year. The company owns approximately 1.4 million hectares (3.46 million acres) of forest in Sweden.
A Canadian startup says that its reforestation drones can identify the best planting sites before dropping its specially designed seed pods. Each drone can plant 20,000 trees per day. The company planted 40,000 trees north of Toronto in May and will plant another 300,000 trees in Hawaii.
Source: Flash Forest (YouTube)
If all the standing dead trees in Michigan were laid side-by-side in a four-foot-tall pile, they would stretch about 22,000 miles, about 90% of the 24,901-mile circumference of the Earth. Michigan's annual tree mortality rate is about 6 million cords; its annual harvest is about 5 million cords.
When the Empire State Building was completed in 1931, the 102-story skyscraper was recognized as a beacon of American progress. In 2015, Canadian architect Michael Green showed that an identical structure could be made of timber. His plans are more radical than to replace the Empire State Building: Green wants the global construction industry to replace steel and concrete with high-tech plywood.
Beck Fastener Group has developed nails made from compressed beechwood that can be used in a nail gun. The beechwood nails have a similar tensile strength as aluminum nails. No pre-drilling is required.
In a major breakthrough, the first wooden wind tower has been built in Björkö, Sweden. The 30-meter-high tower is made of laminated wood that is stronger than steel of the same weight.