DHA eNews - Woodworking Firms See Increasing Impact Of Coronavirus
A Woodworking Network survey confirms that the impact of the pandemic on our industry continues to grow as more companies report a major or serious impact on their business. The breakdown: 35.7% of companies report a major impact; 40.9% a serious impact; 19.1% a minor impact; and 4.3% report no impact.
In the first quarter of 2020, China's gross domestic product dropped 6.8% vs. a year ago, registering the worst performance since official reports of quarterly GDP began in 1992. China's general manufacturing index rebounded from a record low of 40.3 in February to 50.1 in March.
Wave Oglesby has retired from Columbia Forest Products after 37 years of service. For the past four years, Wave has been in the leadership ranks of the Decorative Hardwoods Association where his guidance and strategic focus have made a lasting contribution to the association and our industry. Wave and his family plan to remain in Greensboro, NC. The fish and ducks there are on high alert now!
In the wake of COVID-19, AHF Products is launching two initiatives designed to create a better experience when shopping from home. The first is free delivery of flooring samples; the second includes three new online room visualizers that show shoppers how flooring colors and styles will look in their homes.
With so many homeowners currently confined in their homes, home improvement projects are soaring. A Realtor.com survey of 1,300 consumers found that 32% have taken on new home improvement projects. What they want: more space and updated kitchens.
The pandemic has not slowed illegal logging in Myanmar. Two weeks after the government reported the country's first cases of coronavirus, authorities seized more than 840 tons of illegal timber.
Comments on SFI's drafts of its revised standards will be accepted from now through June 30. If approved, the updated standards will be published in January 2022.
Forests produce a sustainable raw material that the world is relying on for a low carbon future. The question: will there be enough wood to meet the demand? UN's Food and Agriculture Organization reported that global forest production reached record levels in 2018 - an increase of 11%.
Source: EcoWatch
Thailand's 1989 logging ban in all of its natural forests did not work well. Last year, Thailand changed regulations to help promote reforestation, allowing logging on private lands. This timber can now be used in families' woodworking shops and provides an incentive for owners to replant trees to maintain their supply of wood.
President Jair Bolsonaro's government has introduced major changes to the country's indigenous land policy by opening new lands to outsiders. Critics fear that opening the 38,000 square miles could result in significant deforestation and irreversible climate change.
Source: EcoWatch
The range of the destructive emerald ash borer continues to grow. The insect has already added one more county in each of five states to its territory this year. Two more counties in Iowa have also confirmed sightings, as have three more couformation in New Brunswick.
The bark beetle is wreaking havoc across central Europe, as drought - caused by climate change - has weakened trees' natural defenses. The expanding infestation has forced forest owners to cut down wide swaths of trees throughout the Czech Republic, northern Austria, Bavaria, and Slovakia.
Researchers are predicting worse wildfires in the western provinces of Canada this year. New projections show a higher fire risk from British Columbia to Northern Ontario starting in June. Some of the western provinces will face a threat of fire through September.