US housing industry analysts predict housing starts will increase by 34% in 2010 according to industry newsletter Random Lengths.

The British Columbia Interior’s timber harvest and sawmill production is expected to see its long awaited down-sizing as the effects of the mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation on timber supplies take hold.

Flakeboard has installed a particleboard laminator at its Duraflake Particleboard Plant in Albany, Oregon, preparing the company to grow market share and be ready for the recovery when it happens, according to the plant’s manager.

Ikea subsidiary Swedspan Holding, based in the Netherlands, has made an offer for a particleboard mill in Lure, France, owned by Sonae Indústria affiliate Isoroy.

ATC Panels is seeking investors to help reopen its particleboard plant in Franklin, Virginia, according to media reports.

Weyerhaeuser has achieved CE certification for interior roofing and flooring application for its Lumin plywood, part of the company’s recently launched sustainable wood products range.

Chesapeake Hardwood Products Inc has filed for Chapter 11 creditor protection in a US bankruptcy court in Norfolk, Virginia.

Columbia Forest Products plans to indefinitely idle its Rutherglen, Ontario, veneer mill, laying off about 70 employees.

Replacement prices for Chinese plywood are continuing to rise in Europe due to increasing freight costs, according to a report by German news service Euwid.

Laminate flooring producer Pergo ¬ subsidiary of Pfleiderer AG – has been nominated for the Danish ‘Environmental Award’.

Tolko Industries’ Meadow Lake OSB in Saskatchewan has resumed full operations having been temporarily curtailed as a result of a fires on December 25, 2009.

North American structural panel production dropped 13.4% in Q4 to 5.817 billion ft2 after “hopeful increases” in Q2 and Q3, according to APA-The Engineered Wood Association.

A Mexican wood products manufacturer has launched a new 150,000m3/year particleboard and board lamination plant in the city of Durango.

Colombian panel manufacturer Tablemac SA is to spend a further US$15m on the country’s first MDF plant which will now include a board line with continuous press technology and a biomass fuelled thermal plant.

The German woodworking technology industry has reported a 42% fall in sales in 2009, but growth of 10-15% is predicted this year.

The Finnish transport workers strike has resulted in the closure of two plywood lines at UPM’s Pellos mill.
The news comes following an estimate by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) that each day of the strike is costing the Finnish forest industry €30m in export revenues.

Boise Cascade’s wood products division reduced its fourth quarter loss in 2009, despite sales falling 12% on the year.

Louisiana-Pacific (LP) has permanently closed its OSB mills in Athens, Georgia and Silsbee, Texas, taking another 725 million ft2 of production capacity off the North American market.

Accsys Technologies plc has unveiled the world's first Medite Tricoya panel at the annual Ecobuild exhibition, together with Coillte Panel Products.

Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management plans to sell part of its stake in Norbord in a secondary share offering worth about C$150m.

German panel manufacturer Pfleiderer AG says it has received accusations and hearing dates from the German Federal Antitrust Authority as part of an investigation into possible violations of antitrust law.

Uniboard, a leading producer of engineered wood products in North America, has been approved as a manufacturer of Ultra Low Emission Formaldehyde (ULEF) particleboard by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

The massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the heart of Chile’s forest products manufacturing region at the end of February left wood panel plants shaken but largely unscathed.

Tight cost control has helped to vastly improve UPM’s Q4 operating results, with the group reporting profits of €186m (2008: €46m loss).

The UK is due for a major increase in the use of wood fuel, according to Guy Bewick of agent PLS UK.

Weyerhaeuser has posted a net loss of US$545m for 2009 with its wood products division having a tough trading time during Q4.

Press belt manufacturer Sanvik Process Sustems has appointed Jörg Kaufmann to the poijtion of global product manager for thbe wood based panels market, with reposnibility for all gregions except Asia and Turkey.

Panel producers in the US are pressing the federal government to change its mind on a biomass subsidy programme they fear could thwart its ability to source wood fibre, according to industry newsletter Random Lengths.

Weyerhaeuser has pledged US$250,000 worth of building materials to help with the Haiti rebuilding effort and is to provide technical assistance to help explore opportunities for building earthquake-proof buildings in the country.

UPM has joined the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate to confirm its commitment to responsible use of water resources in all its operations.

The 7th China International Wood & Wood Products Conference takes place April 28-30, 2010 in Guangzhou, China. www.mujiaohui.com/en

Weyerhaeuser and Mitsubishi Corporation have signed a strategic memorandum of understanding to explore the possibilities of collaborating in the biomass-to-energy business.

Demand and new applications for wood-plastic composites (WPC) are on the rise, delegates at the German WCP Congress in Cologne have hard.

Three workers have lost their lives in an explosion of a thermal oil boiler at the Brilon particleboard plant which is one of six German plants of the Egger group.

Uniboard, a subsidiary od Pfleiderer AG and a leading producer of engineered wood products in North America, has just put into operation a new plant for MDF and HDF in Moncure, North Carolina.

Louisiana-Pacific (LP) has developed a flame-resistant OSB panel that does not rely on traditional fire treatments.

The ZOW supplier fair for the furniture industry and interior design, which took place in Bad Salzuflen, Germany, between February 8-11, 2010, was well attended with 663 exhibitors from 35 countries, an improvement on the number of trade visitors to East Westphalia than in 2009.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) has posted a US$117m annual loss which narrowed from the US$565m loss in 2008, while Q4 losses were down to US$47m (2008: US$339m loss). Net sales for 2009 totalled US$1.5bn (2008: US$1.37bn).

Andreas Weidenholzer has assumed role of purchasing and benchmarking manager of Swedspan International.

JOSB Done, the UK campaign to drive the use of OSB, is embarking on a fifth year of action.

Finnforest parent Metsäliitto has posted a €329m loss for 2009 (2008: €233m loss). Sales fell to €4.8bn (2008: €6.4bn).

Weyerhaeuser is helping US builders construct more energy efficient wall framing with its Javelin software.

The potential of future prosecutions arising from the sale of palm-core plywood into structural end uses was mooted at a packed London meeting of plywood traders.

Spanish wood panelling and wainscot manufacturer Galiperfil has introduced new panelling products which are said to automatically fight mould and mildew build-up.

Raute Corporation plans to transfer the production activities of the Jyväskylä plant to the company’s plant in Nastola.

Leading event for the wood processing industry, Wood Tech Show 2010, takes place March 9-11, 2010 at the Oregon Convention Center. www.woodwideweb.com

Participants sought by Forestry Faculty of Belgrade University for the International Scientific Conference First Serbian Forestry Congress, under the title Future with Forests, to be held November 11-13, 2010, Belgrade, Serbia. www.sfb.rs

Chris Chase has joined Professional Service Industries Inc (PSI) as an international CARB mill inspector based in their Eugene operations office.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has issued a statement in response to the US Department of Agriculture’s release for public comment of its draft regulations foe the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP).

Nice, France, February 10, 2010: This day saw the signing of what it is hoped will be an historic agreement between the Social Partners in the European woodworking industries in the form of a joint declaration on the REF-Wood Social Partner Project concerning formaldehyde emissions in the workplace.

Engineered wood manufacturer Pfleiderer has concluded a rights issue, raising €34.7m to further pay down debt.

Following organisational changes to BU Europe Joan Padrós has recently joined Ignacio Rivera as joint managing director of Coveright Surface Spain SA and Surfaces Spain SL.

2009 figures provided by Acimall – the Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers’ association – show that Italian production decreased by 48.3% as compared to 2008.