Features
Our editorial board comprises a specialist group of leading industry figures who, in conjunction with the WOOD editorial team, identify the main drivers of the industry helping to produce regular, thought provoking opinion pieces on the latest issues, challenges and developments.Latest Wood Feature
Dr Athanasios Dimitriou, research scientist at the BioComposites Centre, Bangor University explores the subject of light and vision, explaining the benefits technology can bring in this area
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A lead a minute
Interzum @home attracted 10,000 participants from 132 countries and featured 230 digital events
Go Lab in Wood Fibre Insulation Board First
Plans to establish the first wood fibre insulation board plant in the US are moving apace, with equipment already transferred to the Maine site from Europe. We look at the plant plans
Making the most of wood
Global demand for wood fibre, coupled with the need to be cost-competitive and sustainable has led to increasing use of recycled wood in the wood-based panels industry. Stephen Powney looks at the topic and speaks to two different equipment suppliers in this area – PAL and Dieffenbacher
Global recovery
In the second panel discussion of WBPI’s Beyond Covid Conference, we examine the pandemic’s impact on different world regions in the panel industry. Clive Pinnington, managing director of the European Panel Federation, moderated a panel including Andy O’Hare, president of the Composite Panel Federation; Pablo Figueroa Lopez, co-managing director, Finsa; and José Carlos da Fonseca Junior, executive director, IBA (Brazilian Tree Industry).
Panel Prospects
The global wood-based panels industry has fared better during the Covid-19 pandemic compared with average GDP and to an extent the construction industries. Frank Goecke, director of Afry Management Consulting, gave an update on the wood-based panels market to Beyond Covid delegates
Ligna organisers remain optimistic
Deutsche Messe and Germany’s VDMA organise the biennial Ligna woodworking technology show. Ligna show director Christian Pfeifer and VDMA research analyst Dominik Wolfschuetz explained to conference delegates how they are dealing with the impact of Covid-19
The pandemic’s impact on the furniture sector
The furniture industry is a massive customer of the wood panels industry, but how has it fared during the pandemic? In our Beyond Covid panel discussion tackling the subject, WBPI editor Stephen Powney asked questions of several key industry representatives. The panel was made up of Paolo Fantoni, president of Fantoni SpA and president of the European Panel Federation; Ulrich Bühler, head of sales and marketing at Egger Group; and Edi Snaidero, chairman of the European Furniture Industries Confederation
Unleashing new design opportunities
WBPI’s Beyond Covid opening keynote speaker Giulio Masotti, CEO of Wood-Skin, showed delegates how his company is combining digitalisation, CNC machining, the latest design software and use of composite materials to give new applications and possibilities for wood-based panels
Looking Beyond Covid
WBPI’s first virtual conference – Beyond Covid-19 – The global wood-based panels industry adapting for the future – was held on May 11 as a forum for the sector to hear about industry developments
The circular argument for sustainable MDF
Recycling waste MDF would give a valuable new wood raw material source against a background of increasing global demand for wood fibre. Craig Barlett, managing director of MDF Recovery (MDFR), gives an update on his company’s efforts towards achieving this goal
MDF Expansion continues
Significant MDF investment is continuing in Canada, Lithuania, Russia, and Turkey, while in the US the rice straw MDF Calplant 1 has started up in California, reports WBPI consultant Geoff Rhodes
When density is a superhero
Dr Athanasios Dimitriou, research scientist at The Biocomposites Centre, Bangor University discusses the virtues of densified wood
