DHA eNews - Home Buyers Unfazed By Pandemic
Recent information and updates about our industry include:
- Home buyers unfazed by pandemic
- Lumber wins, paper loses in work-from-home trend (toilet paper notwithstanding)
For more stories, regulatory updates, and the latest event changes and cancelations, see the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages.
A federal rule mandates that private forest operators in Canada offer the right of first refusal to domestic sawmills before the operators can receive export permits. Japan and Canada are now at odds over the rule, as the Canadian government committed to easing restrictions on raw logs in exchange for the elimination of Japanese tariffs on Canadian lumber and plywood.
Vietnam pocketed more than $5 billion from exporting timber and wood products in the first six months of 2020, an increase of nearly 30% vs. one year ago. Vietnam's exports of wood products to the U.S. and Canada grew by 43.1% and 19.5%, respectively.
Consistent consumer demand for furniture has been an upside of the pandemic for some countries in Asia. The downside is longer lead times: many importers say that they won't be able to ship July orders until the fourth quarter. This is impacting China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia.
The National Fire Protection Standard, NFPA 652, contains new requirements that take effect next month. The rule affects wood-processing firms and is designed to reduce the risk of injury or death from a combustible dust explosion.
We regret to inform you that Jon Snyder, former president of Arkansas Face Veneer, passed away on July 21. Jon was a respected, long-term member of Decorative Hardwoods Association, serving as board chairman as well as in a number of other roles, including serving on the board of our Hardwood Forestry Fund. His family will hold a private memorial service at a later date.
See photos and read more about Spirit Yachts' new single-masted wooden yacht. The unique, curved interior was inspired by Arizona's Antelope Canyon.
Selling points for real wood flooring include authenticity, durability, value, and how new hardwood flooring products hold up to water.
Little has happened since June, when Earthsight released the findings of an 18-month long investigation into illegal timber being used in IKEA products - although the products bear the eco-friendly, green label of the Forest Stewardship Council. The FSC's published response does not welcome the findings, nor does it promise to investigate them.
After cutting operations in Indonesia to about 50% in May due to the coronavirus, the FSC says that it will ramp back up by September. The organization had paused some investigations and reduced the number of claims processed.
Numerous organizations in Brazil have been using open data to increase transparency in forestry and to combat illegal logging. Open data - information that is available to anyone for any purpose - includes logging permits, timber transport, and processing and trade data. It also includes land data: the location of conservation units, indigenous lands, and private properties.
Protect your supply chain - and your company - by following the American National Standard for Due Diligence in Procuring/Sourcing Legal Timber and the companion "plug and play" management system to ensure your internal due diligence quality assurance program excludes illegal timber.
A Canadian firm is planning to revolutionize how forests are harvested. FPInnovations' latest automated harvesting projects will use a log loader to automate the crane function and an unmanned ground vehicle to help with autonomous navigation and determining real-time forest inventory.
Researchers in England have begun a three-month trial of experimental sensors, attached to trees and connected by wireless technology, that will collect data on tree growth, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and more.
The USDA declared August "Tree Check Month." It is peak time to spot the Asian longhorned beetle as the adult beetles emerge from trees. Reports will help the USDA's efforts to eliminate this destructive pest.
Darrington, WA will be the home of a 100-acre timber innovation center, thanks to a $2 million grant from the state. The center will create 100 new jobs and include companies that build or manufacture mass timber, cross-laminated timber, and modular housing.
Four years ago, Alaska Airlines made history with the first commercial flight that used aviation fuel made of wood waste and forest residues. Now, a research team at the Korean Institute of Science and Technology has developed a technology to mass-produce aviation grade fuels from wood waste.