DHA® eNews - What Buyers Want In Their Next Kitchen: Natural Wood
"We commend Customs and Border Protection for initiating this important investigation," said Tim Brightbill, partner at Wiley Rein LLP and trade counsel for the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood. "With 200 percent duties on hardwood plywood imports from China, evasion and circumvention of these duties have been rampant. We welcome this strong enforcement step and hope this is the first of several such actions that CBP takes publicly to address this cheating and duty evasion."
The U.S. Trade Court dismissed a legal challenge by Chinese engineered flooring exporters to the Commerce Department imposition of 17.37 percent tariffs on Chinese engineered flooring that entered the U.S. market between December 1, 2013, and November 30, 2017. The case goes back to 2010, when the U.S. Department of Commerce opened an investigation and determined that Chinese producers and exporters were dumping multilayered wood flooring in the U.S. at less than fair value, prompting margin adjustments in 2015.
A new survey of recent home buyers underscored a shift in preferences: 30% want kitchen cabinets with natural wood faces while only 17% prefer painted white cabinets. Baby boomers led the trend: 45% prefer natural wood. White cabinets had been the top choice for the past several years.
Columbia Forest Products' board of directors has appointed Greg Pray as president and CEO effective January 1. Pray succeeds Brad Thompson, who will remain as an advisor to the new president and CEO through the first quarter of 2019. Previously, Greg was an executive vice-president with Columbia's Flooring Division and as executive vice-president of U.S. Operations, Plywood Division. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate in nuclear engineering, he also obtained an MBA in finance and organizational behavior from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Armstrong Flooring will sell its entire wood flooring segment for $100 million to an affiliate of American Industrial Partners, a private equity firm. Once the largest manufacturer of wood flooring, Armstrong said it will "intensify" its focus on resilient flooring.
Timber Products has been providing high-quality wood products for 100 years. Founded in 1918 by John Tomlin as the Tomlin Box Company, the company's name was changed in 1930 to the Timber Products Company after it expanded to manufacture a wider range of wood products.
ANSI has approved AWI 0620 - Finish Carpentry Installation Standard. The standard contains updated requirements for the installation of architectural woodwork and related interior finishes. It's the first of a number of AWI standards that will be updated over the next two years.
The International Code Council has released the 2018 edition of the International Green Building Code, a collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, and the Illuminating Engineering Society.
A Dodge survey of more than 2,000 industry professionals in 86 countries found that 47% expect that more than 60% of their projects will be green by 2021. Those in the U.S. who anticipate mostly green projects increased from 32% to 45%. The top contributing factors listed were client demands, environmental regulations, and social reasons.
The EU's Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition voiced concerns about the challenges of certifying forests in tropical countries. STTC set 2020 as the target date to "increase European sustainably sourced tropical timber sales to 50% above 2013."
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes sank 8 points to 60 in November. Still, any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good rather than poor.
Home sales in California dropped 14% to 33,500 transactions in September vs. last year. Experts believe that the state's home sales will slow in 2019, perhaps reaching bottom during an anticipated recession in 2020.
Total housing starts rose 1.5% in October to 1.23 million units. Experts believe that 2018 will be the best year since the last recession.
AIA’s Architecture Billings Index remained positive in October, marking the thirteenth consecutive month above 50.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped 13 basis points last week to an average of 4.81%, the biggest weekly decline since January 2015.
HPVA Laboratories® will become Capital Testing® in 2019. The new brand reflects its broad range of expert services, from emissions testing and certification to legal timber due diligence programs to fire testing. The labs' new logo will be released when the official name change is announced. For a sneak peek, visit HPVA Laboratories®.
Thanks to generous donors, the Hardwood Forestry Fund has planted more than 5 million American hardwood trees: red and white oak, red and black cherry, black walnut, hickory, and more. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help HFF replant the next generation of harvestable hardwood timber.