Or CLICK to download a pdf of this article

Association News

Gammell Named Editor

Tim Gammell will be taking over as the editor of the North American Wood Fiber Review, as well as assisting with consulting projects and multiclient studies on an as- needed basis. As such, he will be able to contribute the knowledge he gained through his many years of work within the Forest Resource Association (FRA). In particular, he will be closely monitoring the biomass market in North America, which is the most rapidly expanding segment in the forest sector.

Tim's education is grounded in forest resource management and procurement and has been solidified by years of hands-on experience in the field. www.wri-ltd.com

WCLIB Annual meeting

The West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (WCLIB) will host their 42nd Annual Meeting on Friday, April 23rd at the RiverPlace Hotel in Portland, Oregon. The feature keynote speaker will be John H. Charles, Jr., President and CEO of the Cascade Policy Institute. In his keynote Why the Environmental Movement is not actually about the Environment, Charles will provide his perspectives on newer environmental regulatory initiatives and address critical issues facing the wood products industry.

• Cassie Phillips, a 25-year veteran in environmental negotiations and public policy and Weyerhaeuser VP of Sustainable Forests and Products, will cover Certified Forest Products in Green Building and Product Standards.
• Dave Gromala, Director of Sustainability Program Development of the ICC-ES SAVE (Sustainable Attribute Verification & Evaluation) Program, will present Are You Ready for Green Building Codes? 
• Don DeVisser, WCLIB Technical Director since 1991, will cover ASTM Standards: What's been done, what's being done, and where are we going from here. www.wclib.org

Forest2Market's 2010 Timber Price Forecast

Forest2Market's 2010 forecast for saw timber calls for prices to continue on an upward trend. "We'll see the normal seasonality in saw timber prices but steady growth overall," says Daniel Stuber, who oversees analytics and data quality at Forest2Market. "We expect 10-inch pine saw timber prices to rise by 11 percent in 2010 and 14-inch saw timber to rise by more than 9 percent."

"A variety of factors will put opposite pressure on saw timber prices. Strong lumber prices in the fourth quarter of 2009, and so far this year, will drive prices upward, as will steady growth in housing starts, which will move from roughly 550,000 per month to 840,000 by the end of 2010. At the same time, oil prices (and therefore diesel prices) will increase throughout 2010, putting downward pressure on stumpage prices, though not enough to push prices back to 2009 historic lows."

Forest2Market's Stumpage Price 4Casts show a stronger year for pulpwood prices as well. Pulpwood prices will be influenced by growth in GDP, which signals increased demand for paper, and by the fact that wet winter weather has made logging difficult in many areas. Because of the wet weather, pulp and paper mills are strapped for raw material.

"We expect prices to continue to be high through mid-March as pulp mills build inventory. As spring and summer approach and ground conditions improve, prices will decelerate, though a strengthening economy and BCAP will support higher prices throughout the year," said Stuber. "Pine pulpwood will increase an additional 2.5 percent in 2010 and hardwood pulpwood will improve by 2.8 percent." www.forest2market.com

Forest Products Market Update

Wood Resources International LLC reported that pulp and paper manufacturers worldwide consumed 75 million tons of woody biomass for energy in 2009.

Global consumption of biomass increased by 51% between 2006 and 2009, according to an analysis done with FisherSolve™ (Fisher International).

As a percentage of total energy usage, the share of energy generated from biomass has, on a global basis, increased from 16% in 2006 to 18% in 2009. Norway and Sweden took the lead in biomass usage at 42% and 38%, respectively, followed by Canada, Brazil, and New Zealand. At the other end of the spectrum are China, Australia, Japan, Spain, and Germany, all of which are countries where the pulp mills used, on average, less than 10% renewable energy at their plants last year.

Another interesting development is that with the increased usage of bark and wood fiber for energy, pulp mills have expanded their external sourcing of the biomass. In 2006, 53% of woody biomass was purchased in the open market; in 2009, this share had increased to 69%. www.wri-ltd.com, www.woodprices.com