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June 4, 2010

Midyear Meeting Provides Insight into Key Initiatives

SFPA members and guests attending SFPA’s Midyear Meeting last week in New Orleans were rewarded with a good overview of the organizations and initiatives currently shaping the industry’s direction. SFPA Chairman Adrian Blocker of West Fraser Inc. opened the meeting by noting, “Steel and concrete have been trying to take our markets away. We’re here today to hear what our industry is doing about it.”

SFPA members can find PDF copies of the presentations made at the meeting in the members-only sections at www.sfpa.org. Meanwhile, here are a few highlights.

·        Carlton Owen of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities explained the Endowment’s mission is to work collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant communities. That mission, along with rules governing the use of the funds and the Endowment’s status as a public charity, dictate what the Endowment can fund with the $200 million it received through the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement between the United States and Canada. The initiative to create a check-off program for softwood lumber and work related to woody biomass are just a couple of the programs the Endowment has helped support so far. Details about all Endowment activities are available at www.usendowment.org.

·         Bob Glowinski of the American Wood Council explained the council’s mission is to increase the use of wood by assuring the broad regulatory acceptance of wood products, developing design tools and guidelines for wood construction, and influencing the development of public policies affecting the use and manufacture of wood products. AWC represents the industry’s interests in building codes and standards, green building and environmental regulations pertaining to wood dust, wood MACT and boiler MACT. SFPA Vice Chairman Joe Patton of Westervelt Lumber and AWC Chairman Marc Brinkmeyer of Idaho Forest Group also spoke about AWC’s work on behalf of the industry. Learn more about AWC at www.awc.org.

·         Cees de Jager outlined work done by the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, which received $50 million in funding from the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement. BSLC’s primary objective is to promote increased cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian softwood lumber industries and to strengthen and expand the market for softwood lumber products in both countries. The council is particularly interested in supporting work that promotes North American softwood lumber products as the ultimate “green” building material and part of the solution to climate change. BSLC has also helped fund SFPA and APA’s joint efforts to promote raised wood floor foundations and the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association’s outdoor living campaign. For more information about the council’s activities, visit www.softwoodlumber.org.   

·         Steve Lovett reported on the Blue Ribbon Commission’s efforts to establish a commodity check-off program to fund initiatives to grow the market for softwood lumber products and reverse the industry’s declining market share. Based on industry feedback, the commission recommends an assessment range of $0.35 to $0.50 per Mbf with the first two years fixed at $0.35 per Mbf. Companies that produce less than 15 MMbf per year would be exempt from the assessment and participating companies would not be taxed on their first 15 million board feet. According the current timeline, the U.S. Department of Agriculture – which oversees commodity check-off programs – is expected to hold a referendum on the proposal in the first quarter of 2011, and the promotional program would launch in the fall of 2012. The complete timeline is outlined in Steve’s presentation in SFPA’s members-only sections.

Attendees also heard updates on SFPA’s marketing activities from Cathy Kaake, SFPA’s senior director of engineered and framing markets, and on Expo 2011 from Eric Gee, Expo director. Those presentations are also available in the members-only sections of SFPA’s website.

And of course, the meeting offered plenty of opportunities for networking and fun. Click here to see photos from the meeting and the reception held the night before.

Expo Sales Kit in the Mail

With the economy continuing to edge forward, those who provide equipment, technology and services to the forest products industry will want to seriously consider participating in SFPA’s 31^st Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition Aug. 11-12, 2011, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

A $200 deposit is all it takes for businesses to ensure they have space when Expo opens its doors. SFPA Associate members also get added benefits, such as priority in exhibit space assignments and hotel reservations along with a free company description and logo in the show program.

Past and prospective Expo exhibitors will receive a packet in the mail with full details any day now.  Meanwhile, if you have questions or want to make sure you’re on Expo’s mailing list, contact Expo Director Eric Gee at 504/443-4464, ext. 214, or by e-mail at egee@sfpa.org. Information is also available at www.sfpaexpo.com.

Tackle Climate Change – Use Wood

It’s hard to understand why anyone has to be convinced there’s a building material greener that wood, but unfortunately, that’s the case. A new book titled “Tackle Climate Change – Use Wood” explains in simple language why wood is the hands-down winner when it comes to reducing the much talked about carbon footprint. The book was produced on behalf of the North American forest products industry by the BC Forestry Climate Change Working Group and the California Forestry Association in cooperation with WoodWorks. Click here to download a PDF copy.

Wood to Energy Report Available

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the University of Tennessee Office of Bioenergy Programs have released a new publication titled “Wood to Energy: A State of the Science and Technology Report.” The report looks at woody biomass supply, current technologies for harvesting woody materials for energy production, transportation, preprocessing and pretreatment, and market impacts of broad-scale woody biomass utilization.

“As we and our partners consider how best to invest in and support the woody biomass industry – both that associated with the traditional forest products industry as well as the emerging alternative energy sector – it is vitally important that we have a sound understanding of the current state of the science and technology,” said Carlton Owen, president and CEO of the Endowment. 

Of special interest to SFPA members might be the market impacts discussion, which starts on page 50. The report says wood for energy uses in the southern United States is estimated to increase from 200,000 short tons annually in 2007 to 18.5 million short tons in 2020. The report’s authors point out that “The emergence of new biomass industries creates anxiety among the existing wood industries regarding wood price and availability. While it is easy to focus on the negative impacts of expanding bioenergy use, the development of these industries might also provide an opportunity for fiber industries to refocus their operations.” For example, sawmills can expand their operations to include pelleting or to handle small diameter trees harvested as part of forest health operations.

Click here to download and read the report.

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