NEWS

The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show featured a clear trend of more wood and wood tones and fewer gloss finishes. Leading the wave: the strong growth in riftsawn white oak for cabinet doors. "Providing a clean and regular grain, mostly in a natural light to medium tone, riftsawn white oak has become very popular with designers to the point that supplies are a challenge for some manufacturers," said the editorial director of Woodworking Network.

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While tariffs helped cut U.S. imports of Russian plywood in half, the U.S. still directly imported at least $1.2 billion worth from Russia in 2022. Plywood remains one of the largest sectors of goods shipped directly from Russia and Belarus into the U.S. and accounts for about half of all Russian consumer goods imported into the U.S. from November to January.

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After the tragic derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, OH, the DHA-supported Real American Hardwood Campaign emphasized the health benefits of choosing natural hardwoods instead of vinyl.

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A recent article publicized the environmental concerns about fake wood flooring, known as vinyl flooring or luxury vinyl plank. Vinyl flooring uses PVC, made from vinyl chloride, the hazardous chemical that was released and burned at the recent train derailment in East Palestine, OH. Per Fast Company, "products like vinyl flooring keep growing, despite the fact that safer alternatives exist."

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A new environmental product declaration for engineered wood flooring shows the global warming potential totals 11.41 kg CO2e. Similar environmental product declarations for luxury vinyl plank report a global warming potential of nearly six times that amount. The new report on engineered wood flooring is the result of a multiyear study conducted for the Decorative Hardwoods Association and National Wood Flooring Association.