Import:Export Wood Purchasing News - February/March 2018

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Vol. 44 No. 4 Serving Forest Products Buyers Worldwide FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 Brett Bleichrodt, Collins, Littleton, CO; Lee Jimerson, Collins, Wilsonville, OR; and Brian Hurdle, Collins, Roseville, CA Photos by Terry Miller and Zach Miller rlando, Florida–The Orange County Convention Center, located here, was the recent site of the 2018 National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show (IBS). This year IBS was held in conjunction with the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show during Design & Construction Week®. The event was expected to bring together approximately 80,000 building industry professionals from around the globe Sources in the transportation industry who ship North American wood products around the world shared with Import/Export Wood Purchasing News their insight about current market activity and export challenges that may arise in 2018. Curtis Struyk TMX Shipping Co. Morehead City, North Carolina TMX Shipping Company Inc. had another record year for lumber and log exports in 2017 with a 17 percent increase over the previous year. China led the way with 65 percent of the market, Curtis Struyk followed by Vietnam at 6.5 percent and Great Britain at 5 percent. With ocean freight rates holding at record low levels, the rst quarter of 2018 is shaping up to look much the same. Ocean carriers tried to increase rates throughout 2017 without much success. We expect they will continue to push for general rate increases which have to be mitigated and dealt with on a carrier by carrier basis. This trend will likely carry over well into 2018 as larger ships compete for export market share. We are currently experiencing container decits at some major rail ramps IBS - Continued from page 1 educational and informational sessions. For example, the Master Sessions were in-depth, 3-hour intensive programs that delved into specic industry topics. The ve topics covered were: home performance errors before and after construction; building prots by shaping culture; marketing to build brand; innovations that sell more homes; and converting online leads. “Tech Bytes” sessions were also offered at IBS. Each session was presented as an interactive, hands-on and how-to 30-minute demonstration, followed by a Q&A session between the expert speakers at these sessions and attendees. Tech Bytes were designed to provide practical guidance about various tech tools and how to incorporate them into business. Additionally, builder clinics were hosted at IBS. These were designed to show techniques, tips and tricks for delivering character and functionality inside and outside a home. Through a series of hands-on demonstrations, attendees learned how to create custom features and nishes that are budget friendly. These clinics focus on kitchens and bathrooms, outdoor living spaces and maximizing living and storage space. Learn more about this event by visiting www.buildersshow.com. PEFC - Continued from page 1 the 22nd PEFC General Assembly. “Society is at a crossroads and the strategic direction we choose will provide the opportunity for us to demonstrate the real value of sustainable forests and their contribution to society in achieving Specialists in Imported Tropical Hardwoods Direct wholesale importers of tropical hardwoods and decking: Specializing in FSC ® certified hardwoods the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Climate change, a growing urban global population, cooperation challenges, are all issues we have to tackle by demonstrating how forests are an important part of the solution,” Gunneberg highlighted. “By working interdependently with a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude, sharing knowledge, working together, helping each other and acting at the local, national and international level, the PEFC family of some 50-plus national forest certication systems (and still growing) can and will change society’s perception and place forests at the heart of the solutions to these challenges.” Present at the annual general meeting and the stakeholders dialogue were representatives of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) from the U.S. and Canada, along with other forest management standard-setting bodies around the world endorsed by PEFC. SFI is the largest by forest area of all the national certication schemes endorsed by PEFC. Jason Metnick from SFI was joined by Sarah Crow, Senior Director, Sustainability Solutions, American Forest Foundation, which runs the PEFC-endorsed American Tree Farm System. They were accompanied by PEFC Board members from the U.S. – Brian Kernohan, David Ford and Joe Lawson, who then stepped down from the Board, and John Dunford from Canada. Sarah Crow presented “Connecting Brand Ownership with Family Forests,” given that 56 percent of all U.S. forests are either family or privately owned. She showed a video – “Forests in Focus” – covering risk assessment, opportunity identication and conservation impacts, citing many American brands that have joined up. Jason Metnick, Senior Vice President, Customer Affairs, SFI, reported, “PEFC endorsement and its global network is important to the SFI supply chain community as SFI Program Participants export certied products to over 120 countries worldwide. The SFI forest management standard is applied across the U.S. and Canada and over 116 million hectares (288 million acres) have been certied to the standard on private, public, Indigenous, conservation and community lands. Of the 39 forest management standards endorsed by PEFC, SFI represents approximately 40 percent of all PEFC endorsed forest certications around the world.” The program for this PEFC event brought together over 250 people from 50 countries. The next PEFC International Week will be held in Geneva, Switzerland in November this year. Learn more at www.pefc. org. www.woodpurchasingnews.com O Orlando Welcomes Thousands at International Builders' Show In 2018 The Transportation Industry Faces Acclimation To Recent Mergers, Alongside Adapting To Recent Labor Laws That Limit Truck Driver’s Schedules Contact us today for a current stock list and to receive our monthly eblast: ImportCustomerSuccessTeam@hardwoods-inc.com Hardwoods Import Lumber Division 9100-1 Lackey Road, Leland, NC 28451 For Your Success STAY IN TOUCH & INFORMED wood purchasing news.com Page 12 Import/Export Wood Purchasing News February/March 2018
BV-COC-016615 TRANSPORTATION - Continued from page 1 Lloyd Lovett Lloyd Lovett King City Forwarding USA Inc. Alliston, Ontario The year 2017 solidified the alliances between all Vessel Ocean Carriers (VOC). We are left with three major participants, first being the ‘Ocean Alliance’ consisting of CMA-CGM, APL – the merger was finalized with CMA 2017, Cosco China Shipping – which was consolidated as of winter 2016, Evergreen Shipping Agency Corp., as well as OOCL. Second, we’ve got ‘The Alliance,’ which is made up of Hapag-Lloyd, UASC (which was taken over by Hapag-Lloyd last spring), “K” Line, MOL, NYK Line, and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. Finally, ‘2M’ was held up by MSC, Maersk, Hamburg-Süd (incorporated by Maersk). Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), though not officially part of the 2M alliance, does exchange slot purchases with both MSC/Maersk respectively. These three major alliances will represent approximately 85 percent of the global container trade. Fortunately, these VOC’s are operating independently and the likelihood of any more major mergers in the future is scarce. The overall market rates have been steadily going down but if history is correct, somewhere along the line in this post-merger market the rates will start to increase back up again. Export container costs have been relatively cheap for a third year in a row, with slight fluctuations moving downward throughout the year. Q4 of 2017 saw further decreases in the cost to export a container to China. It’s unclear if this trend will continue through 2018 though it’s been suggested that fuel prices (bunker fees) will start to increase due to lack of production, which could increase container costs overall. In other news, in December 2017 the government passed the new ELD (Electronic Logging Device), which monitors the hours a driver can be on duty and operating their truck. When installed the device is programmed to shut the truck down SLC when it reaches its daily limit. This is concerning for shippers as every container of lumber or logs will be trucked at some point. Trucking companies are facing long delays at the terminals, weather conditions, and breakdowns, which can in turn affect the container productivity. Every shipper will have to brace themselves for some slight increases on inland trucking from mill to port. In summary, we’ll have to keep a close eye on these three major alliances in 2018. We’ll see if the steamship lines still operate as separate entities as they say they will, or if the alliances will work within each other to start moving the prices back upward. Only time will tell, and we wish you a prosperous 2018! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers for their continued support throughout the years, with many more to come. Quote for the year of 2018 by John F. Kennedy–“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Stephen A. Zambo Ally Global Logistics LLC Norwell, Massachusetts 2017 was a very interesting year. There were many events that took place that helped shape the future and what 2018 more specifically will hold. The largest critical event was the Petya cyberattack. Maersk and some ports Stephen Zambo were crippled by the cyberattack which led to many split shipments, customs problems and for some additional cost. The next series of events in 2017 that took place that will help to shape 2018 is the continual “wave” of consolidation the industry is facing. Carriers have merged or been acquired by other organizations. United Arab and Hapag - Lloyd merged. Cosco absorbed China Shipping in late 2016 and acquired OOCL this past year. CMA-CGM Group has three separate shipping companies under their umbrella which are CMA, APL and ANL. Maersk had acquired SeaLand some years ago and has also acquired Hamburg-Süd in 2017 to increase market share within the South American Trade. In the next few years there will only be a handful of major steamship lines. Once carriers return to profitability, you will see new steamship lines enter the market to capitalize on what seems to be a market ripe for “profits.” Continued on page 14 Import/Export Wood Purchasing News February/March 2018 Page 13
Page 1 and 2: www.woodpurchasingnews.com Vol. 44
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents FEATURES: 2018 IB
Page 5 and 6: Import/Export Wood Purchasing News
Page 7 and 8: Log Prices, Exports, Lumber Demand
Page 9 and 10: Rainey Millworks: Imports Contribut
Page 11: WASHINGTON SCENE Proposed Bill Woul
Page 15 and 16: HHP- Continued from page 4 Jeremy A
Page 17 and 18: SOUTHWEST CLUB - Continued from pag
Page 19 and 20: Import/Export Timber Products’ St
Page 21 and 22: Who's Who - Stoufflet Continued fro
Page 23 and 24: Ontario Continued from page 22 perc
Page 25 and 26: Northeast Continued from page 24 be
Page 27 and 28: West Coast - Continued from page 26
Page 29 and 30: Business Trends Abroad Continued fr
Page 31 and 32: NEWSWIRES - Continued from page 30
Page 33 and 34: NEWSWIRES - Continued from page 31
Page 35 and 36: A guide to U.S./CANADIAN SOFTWOOD F

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