5 March 2010
Finnish stevedors strike forsed UPM to close Rauma
UPM has been forced to close its Rauma paper mill due to the Finnish stevedores' strike which started today on 4 March 2010 at 6 am Finnish time. All of the mill's four magazine paper machines are closed. Production work at paper machines ends today affecting about 450 employees.
5 March 2010
Key business event in Kyiv
Ukrainian Biofuel Forum, key business event for the Ukrainian industry of solid biofuels and biomass, will take place in April, 22-23, in Kyiv.
The Biennial Exhibition "Resists" Also In This Difficult Period
Logs imports totaled 28 million cu.m, valued at US$4,087 million in 2009, down 5 percent in volume and 21 percent in value from 2008. Of the total, softwood log imports were 20.30 million cu.m, valued at US$2 233 million, up 9 percent in volume and down 7 percent in value; hardwood log imports were 7.76 million cu.m, valued at US$ 1 854 million, down 30 percent in volume and 33 percent in value.
17 February 2010
Woodworking Machinery: an improvement in the 4th quarter 2009 leads to cautions optimism
Thešfourth quarter in 2009šshowed the first signs ofšeconomic recoveryšfor the Italian woodworking machinery and tools industry. Good news, though to a moderate extent, that bring some optimism for preliminary 2009 balance and 2010 forecasts.š
Wood fiber costs for pulp mills worldwide increased for the fourth consecutive quarter in the 4Q/09. During 2009, the Hardwood Wood Fiber Price Index (HFPI) moved up 15.4%, while the Softwood Wood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) was up 10.5%, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly.
The call for entries for the 2010 Challengers Distinguished Achievement AwardsR, competition is officially underway with the entry deadline set for April 1, 2010. Over sixty exhibiting companies have requested entry packages for the 2010 competition as of this date.
UPM is committed to an innovative research partnership as part of the Baltic Sea Action Summit. The project involves the use of charcoal mixed with soil to remove impurities from nutrient-rich water running from agricultural lands into the Baltic Sea.
450 exhibitors over a 36 thousand square meter exhibition area. This is the updated situation for 2010 edition of Xylexpo, the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies. Despite the rather difficult economic scenario, applications of Italian and foreign companies continue to increase. They will attend an event featuring the most innovative solutions and updated offers the industry can offer today.
Towards the end of January some reports of firming log prices for selected species have emerged. This may have been triggered by the continuing unclear situation as regards the proposed ban on log exports announced last year byšGabon.
The EU aims to expand the FLEGT Programme to the rest of the Asian region. This development is following three years' experience in Maleysia and Indonesia on negotiating the Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) to ensure that timber exported to the EU comes only from legal sources. The European Forest Institute (EFI) implements the programme for the EU. Kuala Lumpur was chosen to site the regional office leading this expansion of FLEGT outreach to the other countries in Southeast Asia.
Lumber exports from Brazil have fallen 45% in two years, resulting in reduced demand for sawlogs and lower log prices. In the 4Q/09, pine sawlog prices were down 11% from their peak in 2008, but were still over 300% higher than six years ago, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly.
14 January 2010
Global sawlog prices jumped almost 8% in the 3Q/09
Global sawlog prices started to move up in the fall after having reached a bottom in many markets earlier this year. The recent upswing has been the result of a tighter log supply but also because of improved operating rates at many sawmills in both the US and Europe. The US, the Nordic countries, Central Europe the Baltic States and Russia have experienced the largest price increases (in the local currencies) over the past six months.
11 January 2010
PulPaper 2010 at the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre 1-3 June 2010
The seventh tradeshow for the pulp, paper and paperboard industries PulPaper 2010 will fill the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre on 1-3 June 2010. This is by far the most international exhibition of the year, as almost half of the event's exhibitors and over a third of the visitors have traditionally been foreign.
John Carpenter, president of Caterpillar Forest Products, has been elected chairman of the Tropical Forest Foundation.š Carpenter has served as vice president on the TFF board since 2007.
Softwood lumber imports to China have increased by 81% in 2009. It is not inconceivable that China will import more lumber than Japan in 2009, a historical first. Canadian sawmills have been the major beneficiaries of this new fast-growing market.
The Japan Real Estate Institute recently announced the results of a survey concerning the value of timberland and the value of standing timber at the current time of the end of March.
15 December 2009
Arkaim's Sawmill Started Full-scale Operation
JV Arkaim LLC, a large-scale lumber exporting company in Khabarovsk in Russia, made a presentation at Shinjuku Park Tower in Tokyo on November 25. At the presentation, General Director Alexander Lepihov and executive officers of the company, who were visiting to Japan, jointly with the staff of its Japanese contact point SHINRYOKU Co., Ltd., explained the current situation of the company to the Japanese guests of 22 companies or 34 people.
14 December 2009
China: Forest industry revitalization
Five departments including the State Administration of Forestry, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Taxation Administration recently released their plan for the revitalization of the forest industry 2010-2012. This will serve as the foundation for an action plan to support the industry through the current global economic crisis.
11 December 2009
Rapid expansion of wood pellet capacity in North America drives sawdust and wood chip prices upward, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review
The wood pellet industry in North America has grown six-fold since 2004, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review. The dramatic expansion has resulted in higher costs for sawdust and wood chips in the regions with the greatest growth, including Western US and Canada.
