Forest2Market Monthly News
Southern Yellow Pine Lumber Prices Soar in Feb. 2017

By John Greene
 
The composite southern yellow pine lumber price has surged since week 4 of 2017. Though there has been no resolution to the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), the price increase is reflective of the larger market optimism and major stock market indices that have also soared since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Mild winter weather and an early arrival of Spring in many regions has also prompted inventory building that is a few weeks ahead of schedule.
Wood Construction: Good for Communities, Good for the Environment

By John Greene
Per a recent article in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, the City Council of Maitland, Fla. (which is just north of Orlando) is actively seeking to ban wood-frame construction for new buildings in the town of roughly 16,500 residents. After getting on board with the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission proposal to ditch wood construction in all new structures (aside from single-family homes), the Council’s lobbyist has gone to work to gain the support of the state legislature in hopes of changing Florida building codes to allow more local control in the choice of building materials.
Forest Industry Performance: January 2017

By Joe Clark
 
Total industrial production (IP) rose 0.8 percent in December (+0.5 percent YoY—its first “plus sign” in more than a year), mainly from colder weather prompting a 6.6 percent gain in utilities (the largest surge since December 1989). For 4Q as a whole, however, total IP receded at an annualized 0.6 percent rate. In December, manufacturing output moved up 0.2 percent.

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Possible Export Ban of Russian Birch Logs on the Horizon

By Vasylysa Hänninen
 
In recent years, Russian birch plywood producers have faced a significant price increase in birch logs. This was partly driven by an increase in plywood production volumes by domestic producers, as well as rapidly increasing exports primarily sent to China. In addition, there are significant investments planned for birch plywood production in the coming years. If all announced investments are realized in the future, they will result in a nearly 1 million m3 annual increase in birch log consumption.  In order to protect plywood producers and their competitive advantage in the global market, the Russian government may possibly introduce a temporary export ban for birch logs over 15 cm in diameter.


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US Housing Starts: January 2017’s Flat Performance

By John Greene
 
Housing starts inched down 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,246,000 units in January. Single-family starts accounted for 823,000 units, which is 1.9 percent above the revised December figure of 808,000. The volatile multifamily segment sank 10.2 percent to a SAAR of 421,000.
 
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Lithuanian Forest Land: An Investment Opportunity Poised for Growth

By MABA Forest
 
While investing in forest land has been a popular trend in many European nations for decades, it is a relatively new strategy and development in the Baltic States. The Baltics are covered in dense, high-quality timber—a valuable resource for the region’s robust forest products industry—however, Lithuania has drawn increasing attention from the forest investment community in recent years. As a growing, favorable market, Lithuania represents a real opportunity for those looking to invest in regional forest land.

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US Forest Service Uses Data to Visualize Impact of Wildfire Smoke

By John Greene
 
The United States Forest Service (USFS) must rely on massive amounts of data in virtually every activity the agency is tasked with managing—from analyzing forest inventories, to fighting wildfires and everything in between. A new general technical report recently published by the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station adds new visual elements to help assess smoke concentrations in the region heavily impacted by large, destructive fires.

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Estonia’s Vibrant Forest Industry Part I: Timber Supply & Investment

By John Greene
 
Last month, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service published a detailed report through its Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) on the forestry sector and forest products industry in Estonia. Since 2011, and in the wake of the Great Recession, the Estonian timber industry has shown stable growth; the forest and wood industry’s share of Estonian GDP reached 22 percent in 2014.

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Estonia’s Vibrant Forest Industry Part II: Imports & Exports

By John Greene

 
Like other Baltic nations, local species are used in wood products manufacturing and raw material comes from Estonian forests as well as imports originating in Russia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Estonian forest products industry is export oriented, as exports makes up nearly two thirds of sales for Estonian producers. According to the Estonian Statistical Office, in 2015 total wood industry exports reached €1.83 billion ($2.0 billion), and primary export destinations include Scandinavian markets, neighboring Baltic countries and other large EU wood markets like Germany and the UK.

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Proposed Biorefinery Would Represent Largest Industrial Investment in Estonia

By Vasylysa Hänninen
 
A cutting edge, commercial scale biorefinery that will also create green energy may become a reality if a group of Estonian investors have their way. While the ambitious project is still in its infancy, the vision is to establish the most modern biorefinery in Europe via a €1 billion investment, making it the single largest industry investment in Estonia. This type of forward-thinking commitment to forest products technology and manufacturing will one day be the norm but for now (as the world appears reluctant to abandon its dependence on fossil energy), a pair of seasoned forest-industry veterans are leading the charge.

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Forest2Market Ranked #30 in List of Top 75 Global Forest Blogs

By Forest2Market
 
The Forest2Market blog recently earned the #30 spot in Feedspot’s Top 75 Forest Blogs and Websites About Forestry. “The Best Forest blogs on the Planet” list pulls data from thousands of top forestry blogs across the globe and ranks them using search indices and social metrics. These blogs are ranked based on the following criteria: 
 
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