NEWS

Hardwood plywood producers filed suit against the Commerce Department for declining to investigate Chinese companies who preemptively altered materials to circumvent antidumping and countervailing duties on hardwood plywood.

Photo © John Sonderman

At the 97th Annual Meeting, which saw record attendance, Wave Oglesby of Columbia Forest Products and Jeremy Manthei of Manthei Veneer were elected chairman and vice-chairman of the board of directors. New board members include David Williams, Great Lakes Veneer, Don Tomaszewski, Besse Forest Products, and Doug Johnson, States Industries. Garret Keil of Murphy Plywood assumes the vice presidency of the hardwood plywood division and Herb Upton of Shaw the vice presidency of the engineered flooring division. Retiring after decades of board service are George Freeman and John Varner.

2018 Spring Conference presentations - by Grace Jeffers, Tim Brightbill, Federal Reserve economist Richard Kaglic, and more - are available on the Decorative Hardwoods Association® website.

The Decorative Hardwoods Association® launched an online grading webinar: four easy-to-follow sessions that focus on the fundamentals, specifications, standards, and grades. All who pass the final exam will receive a certificate. The $175 cost includes course materials worth $100.

The Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge™ highlights the creative use of natural wood veneer. Projects created in the past five years are eligible for thousands of dollars in prizes. No project is too small or too large and there is no entry fee.

The next Wood-Based Composites short course on the science of wood adhesion and the unique bonding characteristics of wood will be held July 11-12 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

Mannington Mills dedicated a site in Salem, NJ, to be used as a community garden and for educational programs for children. Mannington's founders, the Campbell family, had lived nearby.

Cabinet manufacturers participating in the KCMA Trend of Business Survey reported a decrease in sales of 1.7% in March as imports continued to rise.

Source: Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association

The Housing Activity Index rose 3.5 points in April after March housing starts grew to an adjusted annual rate of more than 1.3 million.

Satellites are being used to protect vulnerable rainforests from illegal logging. Technicians in Scotland analyze satellite photos to identify where trees are being cut in Guatemalan forests and communicate coordinates to local authorities.

The devasting disease that affects the little brown bat and the northern long-eared bat has been confirmed in western Newfoundland.

In the largest study to date, scientists found that the biggest one percent of trees in mature forests comprise 50 percent of forest biomass worldwide. The amount of carbon a forest can sequester depends primarily on its largest trees.

Environmentalists who blocked logging in the ancient Białowieża Forest were acquitted last week. The logging, ordered by the Polish government, had been condemned by the EU.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control Final 2018-2020 Priority Product Work Plan includes no specific references to composite wood products or formaldehyde in the home furnishings and building products categories to avoid existing EPA and CARB regulations.

Phrases like "coerced technology transfer" and "25 percent tariff" are frequently used in the U.S.-China trade debate but appear to have little real meaning. The same is true for "currency devaluation."