Import/Export Wood Purchasing News - October/November 2023

Brian Farrier is
export sales manager
for Banks Hardwoods,
Inc., headquartered in
White Pigeon, MI with
a second location in
Menomonie, WI.
The Banks Team
operates two concentration
yards in the
Northern Great Lakes
Brian Farrier region. With over two
million board feet of
kiln capacity, the company produces 40 million
feet of high quality, color-sorted hardwood lumber
annually. Most all Northern and Appalachian species
are stocked in thicknesses from 4/4 – 8/4. Complete
milling facilities include finish planing, straight-line
ripping, gang ripping and mouldings. Banks Hardwoods
is widely known for consistent high quality
and excellent customer service.
After graduating with a degree in Business Management
and Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelly
School of Business, Farrier attended the National
Hardwood Lumber Association Inspection School’s
145th class. Working in manufacturing for over a decade
he served as both production and plant manager.
In addition to export sales manager, Farrier overseas
all lumber allocations and logistics for the company.
Who’s Who in Import/Exports
Lan McIlvain is
the president of Alan
McIlvain Company,
located in Marcus
Hook, PA. Alan McIlvain
is a hardwood
distributor and moulding
manufacturer that
buys 10 million board
feet of lumber annually
in most domestic
Lan McIlvain and imported species.
The company offers
custom mouldings, S4S, priming, rip 2 edges,
surfacing and resawing, as well as width and grade
sorted lumber.
McIlvain started working summers for the
company while he was in high school. He has been
with the company for 25 years and has been the
president for seven. After high school, McIlvain
went on to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA
and earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering.
He also graduated from NHLA inspector
training school in Memphis, TN.
In his spare time, McIlvain enjoys woodworking,
hunting, fishing and sailing. He has been married
to his wife Gretchen McIlvain for 14 years and has
one son.
Alan McIlvain Company is a member of the
As International
Program Manager of
the American Hardwood
Export Council
(AHEC), headquartered
in Sterling, VA,
Tripp Pryor is responsible
for identifying
emerging markets for
U.S. hardwood products
and coordinating
Tripp Pryor with AHEC’s overseas
offices on marketing
strategies to drive new growth.
Over the last seven years, Pryor has traveled
extensively with AHEC to organize international
pavilions and marketing events in 20 countries
and has also given presentations on American
hardwood export trends at many U.S. association
meetings.
Before joining AHEC, Pryor completed his
master’s degree in International Business at the
University of South Carolina in May of 2015. He
also holds an undergraduate degree from South
Carolina in Marketing and International Business
and spent two years studying at the Chinese University
of Hong Kong where he learned Mandarin
Chinese and played on the college basketball and
tennis teams.
Table of Contents
FEATURES:
Tecno Mueble............................ 1
AWFS Fair.................................... 1
Classic American Hdwds............ 4
Rainey Millworks......................... 5
DEPARTMENTS:
Who's Who in Import/Exports.... 2
AHEC Column.............................. 2
IWPA Column............................... 3
Washington Scene...................... 6
Business Trends USA................. 7
Canadian Trends....................... 14
Business Trends Abroad...........16
Memoriam...................................25
Stock Exchange....................27-28
Newswires...................................29
Index of Advertisers.................. 34
IMPORT/EXPORT
By Ashley Amidon,
CAE
Executive Director
International
Wood Products
Association
Alexandria, VA
(703)820-7807 (c)
www.iwpawood.org
A Busy (Policy) Fall for the Industry
If there are two constant refrains IWPA hears from the industry, it’s about increases in delays they
are experiencing at our ports of entry and GSP. Both issues tie back to Congress - although in
different ways.
GSP is perhaps the simplest problem because it already has an easy solution. The Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP)–established in 1974, it promotes economic development by eliminating
duties on thousands of products when imported from designated beneficiary countries and
territories. It also benefits American companies and consumers, as it allows businesses to receive
a duty-free rate on specific products which then undergo further manufacturing here in the United
States, providing jobs to Americans, and ensuring that consumers have the best choices. Unfortunately
for many years GSP has been in a cycle of expiring, having to wait a year or more before
being reauthorized retroactively. This is repeated in a frustrating cycle that leaves businesses with
money they hope to receive but can’t count on. IWPA has always been a proponent of GSP, and
now during the longest lapse in the program’s history, we continue to ask Congress to take this
important issue up. Our hope is that by the time this article goes to print, Congress will have settled
with priorities they will deal with in end-of-year packages and that GSP is among them.
The second issue is more complicated. IWPA staff receives frequent calls from companies who
are frustrated with extended Lacey Act holds at ports. While the delays, which extend for several
weeks or often months at a time, are frustrating enough on their own, too often they result in costly
demurrage fees that eat into or eliminate any profit the importer could hope to book on a shipment
of wood products. Importers are bounced between agencies as they seek to learn the nature of the
Continued on page 18
By Michael Snow,
Executive Director
American Hardwood
Export Council
Sterling, VA
703-435-2900
www.ahec.org
Continued on page 18
Continued on page 18
Continued on page 18
With Technical Support From AHEC, Groundbreaking Mass Timber Office Building
In London Makes Extensive Use Of Thermally Modified American Tulipwood
The seven-story structure, commissioned
by commercial real estate firm The Office
Group (TOG), lays out a roadmap for
the office environment of today. In fact,
architects Waugh Thistleton (WTA) say
it demonstrates how all buildings of its
type and scale could and should now be
constructed. The focus is on combining
technical performance, environmental
ethos and functionality, while taking into
account the changing way people are living
and working and perceiving the workplace.
Well-being lies at the heart of the design.
It’s about the materials used; what they
are – predominantly bio-based – their
aesthetic, how they’re perceived and how
they make occupants feel. From the façade
to the interiors, these are not just individual
components of the building – they ARE the
building. And structurally it’s an entirely
wood solution.
The key structural elements include a CLT
core, floor and wall panels, plus the glulam frame for
the façades.
An eye-catching feature externally – and key contributor
to the building’s energy performance – are the
brise soleil fins in thermally-modified American Tulipwood. These are individually
shaped using parametric modelling and are vertically or horizontally
mounted according to the angle at which the sun strikes the building through the
day. So they help maximize the building’s use of natural light, but break it up
and control energy gain, minimizing the need for non-recyclable solar control
coating on windows.
Photography By Ed Reeve, Courtesy of AHEC
AHEC worked with Waugh
Thistleton in a technical advisory
role on the specification of
Tulipwood. It was chosen due
to its technical performance and
sustainability, with the species
comprising 7 percent of the
overall U.S. hardwood forest.
It has not been widely used
thermo-treated, but where it has,
such as in the Maggie’s Centre
in Oldham and playground
structures at Chisenhale school
in London, it’s been shown to
be durable, strong and stable in
exterior use. AHEC-commissioned
tests also showed it takes
fire retardant treatment well.
Architect Andrew Waugh
comments “on use of hardwood,
we’d never specify one that is
endangered or clearly unsustainably
forested. But when it came The Black and White Building
to using U.S. Tulipwood for the
Black and White building’s solar control louvres our collaborators at the American
Hardwood Export Council explained that it’s in oversupply; growing faster
than it can be harvested. So here we have a hardwood which is sustainable and
suited to external applications. We should consider the best solution for every
use case. In this scenario, with this species, for this location on the building, a
hardwood is the correct solution.”
AHEC EU Director David Venables adds, “the louvres cover approximately
Continued on page 18
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