DHA eNews - China's Largest Plywood Exporter Accused Of Fraud
China's timber manufacturers, at-risk forests in the Solomon Islands, and European importers are the focus of the Environmental Investigation Agency's recent report that claims that consumers of tropical plywood are inadvertently causing forest degradation. According to EIA, European companies appear to have imported thousands of tons of tropical-faced plywood that have a high risk of containing illegal wood, a violation of European law. The report details the role of the largest exporter of Chinese plywood in what appears to be fraud involving more than 100,000 tons of FSC-certified products.
Vietnam's wood products exports are forecast to grow to a record $15-16 billion this year, a 20-28% increase over last year. In the first five months of 2021, Vietnamese wood exports shot up by 61%.
A coronavirus outbreak in southern China has clogged ports critical to global trade. The resulting shipping backlog could take months to clear. Some of the world's busiest ports are located in Guangdong, which has locked down communities, canceled flights, and suspended trade along the coastline in an attempt to bring the spike in COVID-19 cases under control.
Recent news and updates that affect our industry include:
- How the lumber industry misread COVID-19 and ended up with a global shortage and sky-high prices
- Ten COVID-19 logistics lessons for construction firms
- COVID-19 update on housing: Shifts, risks, and opportunities
- More coronavirus humor
See the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages for more information.
Don't miss this year's event: the 100th anniversary of the Decorative Hardwoods Association.
All DHA members are invited to join us at the beautiful Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC, from Tuesday, September 7th through Thursday, September 9th. We'll discuss the next 100 years: who will buy our products, who will make them, and how changes on the horizon will shape our industry. On Wednesday, we'll ring in the next 100 years with an open bar and a banquet.
See you at Hilton Head!
Roseburg Forest Products will build a 375,000-square-foot sawmill in North Carolina capable of producing up to 400 million board feet of lumber annually. Construction begins in early 2022.
Canada's Minister of the Environment has published proposed formaldehyde emission regulations for domestic and imported composite wood products. The limit of 0.05 parts per million is similar to U.S. requirements for hardwood plywood and other EPA-regulated wood products.
The innovative team at Capital Testing (formerly HPVA Laboratories®) continues to expand its scope of services. At the National Wood Flooring Association Expo last week, the team announced the launch of PQUAL, a new testing program designed for the hard surface flooring industry that encompasses slip resistance, Martindale abrasion, environmental chamber testing, and more. Contact Capital Testing for more information or a quote.
For the first time, federal prosecutors used tree DNA to help convict an illegal logger who stole bigleaf maple lumber from a national forest in Washington state. Federal investigators matched DNA from stumps in the forest with timber sold to local mills.
Ricardo Salles, Brazil's environment minister, has resigned in the wake of an investigation into whether he obstructed a police investigation into illegal logging. Brazil faced a resurgence in the deforestation of the Amazon after Salles became the country's environment minister in 2019.
A German court has sentenced the managing director and employees of a timber trading company for illegally importing wood from Myanmar. The company, WOB Timber GmbH, had imported teak for luxury yachts repeatedly between 2008 and 2011 despite EU trade sanctions against Myanmar. The managing director received a suspended prison sentence and a fine of EUR 200,000.
A Swedish company has been fined for importing Ukrainian timber in violation of the European Union Timber Regulation. A 2019 investigation indicated that Italian and Swedish firms were importing timber from a Ukrainian company connected to Viktor Sivets, known to be the architect of corruption in Ukraine’s forestry agency. Four Italian firms and one Swedish firm have recently received timber from firms controlled by Sivets.
Climate change is threatening the survival of the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests in coastal, old-growth forests. Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission has reclassified its status from threatened to endangered, which triggers voluntary conservation measures by private landowners.
The elm zigzag sawfly, which chews zigzag patterns into the leaves of elm trees, was detected in Quebec about one year ago. Foresters in Maine have been asked to look out for the pest, but so far there are no sightings in the state. The sawfly is native to Asia and has been present in Europe for nearly two decades.
Each year, more than 47,000 square kilometers of forest are lost worldwide. Some countries, however, have increased total forest area, beginning with China, Australia, India, and Chile. China added about four times as much forest as the second-place country, Australia.
Nonfarm business job openings rose from 9,193,000 in April to 9,209,000 in May, a new record. The May survey recorded 9,316,000 unemployed Americans, which translates to 1.01 unemployed workers for every one job opening in the U.S. economy. That figure represents a phenomenal improvement from April 2020, where there were 4.99 unemployed workers for every one job opening.
There is little sign of relief in the hardwood market.
Who invented the wood screw? Who won the first patent?