Global Trends Review

Canadian panel producer Norbord reported EBITDA of $33 million in the 2Q 2014 which is 22% higher than in 1Q, but 68% lower than a year-ago indicator. OSB prices and deliveries have grown in North America. Shipments in...

Germany is lucky to have strong domestic sales market, which supports the laminated timber industry, as Holzkurier journal noted in an article. Austria, unlike Germany, has to export to the sharply declining sales markets like Italy or to...

There is hype around European-made cross-laminated timber in the United States, as Holzkurier journal wrote in an editorial article. Many agendas and initiatives have been set towards CLT in recent years. The White House officially supported “innovative timber...

RWE Innogy is selling the largest operating US pellet factory, Georgia Biomass in Texas, as Holzkurier reported. The company is going to dispose of biomass assets as non-core business. The mill was launched in May 2011 and has...

On 10 June 2014, Metsä Group agreed to sell its Estonian subsidiary Metsä Wood Eesti AS to the local company Combimill OÜ. Simultaneously with the transaction, the parties have agreed on commercial cooperation in raw material procurement as...

China’s domestic timber production rose 2% to 83.67 million m3 in 2013, ITTO reported. Timber imports (logs and sawnwood) rose 18% to 79.16 million m3 log equivalent, and the value of China’s timber imports grew 26% to $16.1...

The building permits development in 2013 remained negative and is expected to decline in 2014 in France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, though the latter three showed some positive developments, says Fordaq quoting the latest Arch-Vision report on...

Scandinavian sawn timber producers report a good start of 2014 due to improved market demand and better prices on major markets, TTJ said. Moelven’s pre-tax profits in Q1 2014 were NOK 32.9 million (€4 million), compared to NOK...

According to the latest Eurostat figures quoted by Fordaq, in 2013 not only the sawmills from Europe made their presence obvious on the Chinese market, but also EU’s softwood log exporters more than tripled their deliveries compared to...

In January 2014 compared with January 2013, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector increased by 8.8% in the euro area (EU18) and by 7.3% in the EU28, as Fordaq said quoting Eurostat. The highest increases in production...

Idaho Forest Group (US) and Johann Offner Group (Austria) have announced plans to introduce CLT technology to the United States together, Holzkurier reported. The new company will primarily market a product known in German-speaking countries as KLH, a...

Chinese timber enterprises are rapidly increasing foreign investments. Around $1.3 billion has been already allocated in some 20 countries, mainly for logging and primary processing, but with growing interest in wood product manufacturing, as ITTO reported. Recently, both...