by Web Editor | Feb 19, 2016 | Update
Organizers of the third Timber Processing & Energy Expo announced that indoor exhibit space is 98% sold out. Some space remains outside. Hosted by Timber Processing and Panel World magazines, and produced by Hatton-Brown Expositions, TP&EE will be held September 28-30 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore.
Sold-out exhibitor space in 2014, a waiting list, and generally cramped quarters prompted organizers to move the 2016 event into a larger adjacent hall on the fairgrounds. “Hall E (108,000 sq. ft.) this year is a third larger than Hall D (72,000 sq. ft.) was in 2014, so we should be able meet most exhibitor demands,” comments Rich Donnell, Show Director and Editor-in-Chief at Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc.
The 2014 event featured 170 exhibitors who displayed their equipment and technologies to 1,700 industry producer personnel, representing 140 wood products companies and hundreds of lumber, veneer/plywood and engineered wood products mill operations. The event also continues to attract an international audience, with 22 countries represented. In addition, 1,000 exhibitor personnel were on hand.
Donnell adds that while there will be a marginal increase in the number of exhibitors, the difference is that many exhibitors have increased their booth space to be able to display more machinery and equipment.
“There’s no doubt there’s considerable project planning in the mills going on because our editors in the field hear about it, and our surveys indicate the same,” Donnell says. “If the housing market gains steam even beyond its current slow advancement, nobody wants to be caught short. Throw in the fact that it’s an election year, and we’re bound to have an exciting event with a lot of buzz to it.”
The 2016 TP&EE will again include two workshop days that focus on a range of lumber, plywood and engineered wood products technologies. More than 200 people attended the workshops in 2014.
Attendee online registration opens May 1.
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by Web Editor | Dec 28, 2015 | Update
Good Earth Power AZ and its former restoration contractor, Campbell Global, have filed lawsuits against each other for alleged breach of contracts concerning work on the 4FRI (Four Forest Restoration Initiative).
4FRI is the Forest Service project to restore/thin 300,000 acres in 10 years on the Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto national forests, following years of devastating wildfires. Good Earth Power AZ, based in Flagstaff, was created to take over the 4FRI contracts as part of its acquisition of the assets of Pioneer Forest Products, which had been awarded the contract in 2012 but failed to find financing for it.
Campbell Global, which initially contracted with GEPAZ in May 2014 for forest restoration services, and which left the project in June, has sued GEPAZ for breach of contract and failure to pay nearly $3 million for services. GEPAZ has since counter-sued Campbell Global for $1 million for failure to perform services.
Campbell Global claims GEPAZ did not pay monthly and annual management fees and other incentive and sourcing fees as stipulated in the agreement. In June 2015 Campbell Global withdrew from the deal and gave GEPAZ seven days in which to make full payment of more than $3 million.
Campbell Global says that GEPAZ offered to make monthly payments but tendered only $18,000 to Campbell Global, which in September filed suit in U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, Portland Div.
GEPAZ claims Campbell Global was entitled to compensation only if Campbell performed its obligations, which GEPAZ says Campbell failed to do.
GEPAZ says it and Campbell failed to complete and approve business plans and an operating budget as directed by their agreement and this automatically terminated the agreement. GEPAZ also says Campbell failed to monitor prevailing wage payments to subcontractors, resulting in the Dept. of Labor fining Good Earth for violating certain provisions of Good Earth’s contract with the U.S. Forest Service
GEPAZ also claims Campbell Global was negligent in its performance by failing to solicit a satisfactory pool of bids from local logging companies, for hiring an inexperienced logging company against Good Earth’s advice, for failing to register Good Earth for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program federal subsidy by the deadline and for failing to attract log and chip sales for Good Earth.
GEPAZ also claims Campbell Global induced Good Earth to share its operating information and to spend its last capital on projects Campbell Global so designated, with a promise to secure financing for Good Earth, but that instead of coming through with the financing, Campbell Global notified Good Earth it was canceling the agreement.
Because of these and other alleged breaches, GEPAZ filed a counter-suit in the same court in October, seeking damages of at least $1 million.
Good Earth Power reports that in the two years since GEPAZ took over the 4FRI contract in Arizona, it now employs 150, owns and operates two lumber mills, has two pole peeling facilities, operates an in-house trucking fleet, has developed forest infrastructure capable of operating simultaneously on six individual Forest Service task orders. GEPAZ also reports it has customer orders for more than 100 loads of biomass per day.
As of October, 5,000 acres had been restored, and GEPAZ was working with 19 Forest Service Task Orders in various stages of activity or inactivity. Addressing some questions that restoration is proceeding slowly, GEPAZ points to biomass removal as a key difference between a 4FRI restoration task order and a routine timber sale. Biomass is “what makes 4FRI a model and a test case for landscape scale restoration—not forest thinning or logging,” GEPAZ states.
by Web Editor | Dec 28, 2015 | Update
Weyerhaeuser Co. and Plum Creek announced a merger that will leave nearly two-thirds majority ownership in Weyerhaeuser shareholder hands. The combined company creates a $23 billion timber REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) with more than 13 million acres of timberland in the U.S.
The combined company will retain the Weyerhaeuser name. As previously announced, Weyerhaeuser intends to move its headquarters to Seattle in mid-2016.
Weyerhaeuser brings 6.9 million acres and Plum Creek 6.3 million acres to the deal. The combination becomes the largest private timberland owner in the U.S. and encompasses 7.3 million acres in the South (56% of company land), 3 million in the Pacific Northwest (22%) and 2.6 million in the North (20%). The new venture will also own 323,000 acres in Uruguay.
Plum Creek operates a medium density fiberboard plant, plywood mill and a board sawmill in Columbia Falls, Mont.; a plywood mill in Kalispell, Mont.; and a stud mill in Kalispell/Evergreen, Mont.
Weyerhaeuser operates 11 sawmills in the Southern U.S., four in the Northwest and three in Canada. It also operates six OSB mills, six engineered wood products facilities and three veneer/plywood facilities in North America.
Weyerhaeuser also announced it is exploring “strategic alternatives” for its Cellulose Fibers business, including a possible sale. The company’s Cellulose Fibers business includes pulp mills in Port Wentworth, Ga.; Vanceboro, NC; Grande Prairie, Alberta; and a modified fiber mill in Columbus, Miss.; as well as other facilities internationally.
Weyerhaeuser’s Doyle Simons will serve as president and CEO of the combined company. Plum Creek’s Rick Holley will serve as non-executive chairman of Weyerhaeuser’s board, which will be expanded to 13 directors, which will include eight directors from Weyerhaeuser and five from Plum Creek.
The transaction requires the approval of shareholders of both Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek and is subject to customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in late first quarter or early second quarter of 2016.
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by Web Editor | Oct 21, 2015 | Update
Organizers of the fifth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo have announced further developments for the event to be held April 7-8, 2016 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Three more keynoters have joined the foursome previously announced.
Jackson Morrill, president of Composite Panel Assn., will address the group’s positions and concerns with various issues ranging from the pressures on woody biomass raw material to continuing developments with EPA and CARB on regulations that pertain to formaldehyde in composite wood products.
Morrill will have completed his first year as president of CPA when he speaks at PELICE. Educated and trained in environmental law (Tulane Law School), Morrill before coming to CPA served as director for the American Chemistry Council, where he managed the Formaldehyde Panel.
Luis Tejado, president of Blue Drop in Mexico City and an affiliate of Proteak, will review the development of the new Proteak MDF plant in Huimanguillo. Tejado led the entrepreneurial efforts to purchase the largest eucalyptus plantation in Mexico while also raising $170 million for the Proteak MDF project. He continues to serve on the board of Proteak and is a member of the forestry and MDF committee. After obtaining a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, Tejado spearheaded numerous developmental projects for several companies before joining Proteak in 2007 and leading a major teak forest planting and management program.
Rodney Schwartz, vice president of sales of B&W Megtec, will address developments in clean air technology and their implementation at panel producer operations, while also reviewing the current state of clean air regulations. Schwartz has worked 30 years in air pollution control technology and was vice president and business director at Megtec Systems when it was purchased by Babcock & Wilcox in June 2014.
Morrill, Tejado and Schwartz join keynoters previously announced, including Jonathan Martin, chairman and CEO of Martin Companies, LLC; Steve Swanson, president and CEO of Swanson Group; Kurt Liebich, CEO of RedBuilt and New Wood Resources; and Brian Carlson, president of Huber Engineered Woods LLC.
PELICE will include up to 50 technical session presentations in the structural and non-structural fields. Technical session subjects planned include:
- Adhesives, Resins, Binders, Agents—Technologies, Solutions, Implementation.
- Air Emissions Control—Technologies, Maintenance, Retrofits.
- Log Lathe Systems—Improvements, Refinement.
- Wood Yard Raw Materials Preparation—Processing, Transfer.
- Cross Laminated Timber—Production, Markets.
- Real Time Quality Control—In-Line Detection, Measurement.
- Engineered Wood Products—Continuing Developments.
- Press Line Enhancements—Forming, Pressing, Controls.
- Operations Data Management—Recording, Reviewing, Reacting.
- Dryer Line Technologies—Drying, Grading, Detection, Testing.
- International Developments: The China Factor.
- Fire Hazard Prevention—Technologies, Implementation.
- Finishing End Systems—Strapping, Painting, Wrapping.
- Export Considerations—Shipment, Standards.
- Vendor Service Capabilities—Service Centers, Communications.
PELICE will be immediately preceded by the fourth biennial Wood Bionergy Conference & Expo on April 5-6, which is hosted by Wood Bioenergy magazine, an affiliate of Panel World magazine.
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by Web Editor | Aug 19, 2015 | Update
Organizers of the 2016 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo have announced several keynoters from the structural panel segment of the industry. Keynoters from the non-structural composite side will be announced soon.
The fifth biennial PELICE will be held April 7-8, 2016 in the Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Hosted by Panel World magazine, PELICE in 2014 attracted 420 industry professionals who enjoyed 10 keynote presentations as well as forecasts and technical presentations delivered by 45 industry experts, supported by 75 equipment and technology companies that exhibited in the Ballroom.
PELICE will be immediately preceded by the fourth biennial Wood Energy Conference & Expo on April 5-6.
“The 2014 PELICE was refreshing because it was the first one going back to 2008 where all the talk wasn’t about the recession,” comments Rich Donnell, co-chairman of PELICE and editor-in-chief of Panel World magazine. “There was a lot of enthusiasm about projects-in-the-making. I believe that enthusiasm will continue into PELICE 2016 as housing and remodeling markets continue to climb. There will also be a definite buzz in the air at PELICE because it will be held right in the middle of the primary season for the 2016 presidential election.”
Donnell also notes that since the last PELICE there have been a number of production technology developments that will be addressed at PELICE 2016, as well as developments in engineered wood products, such as cross laminated timber, and in composite panels.
“We’ve rounded up a great lineup of keynote speakers from the structural segment of the industry,” Donnell adds. “We’ll now turn our attention to the non-structural side for additional keynoters.”
Donnell says two keynoters—Jonathan Martin, chairman & CEO of Louisiana-based Martin Companies, L.L.C.; and Steve Swanson, president and CEO of Oregon-based Swanson Group, will speak under the heading: “If I Could Build a New Plant In 2016, Here’s What I Would Do.”
Martin will address the development of Martco’s new oriented strandboard plant being built in Corrigan, Texas. The company currently operates an OSB plant in Oakdale, La., which it built and started up in 2006. Its history with OSB dates back to 1982 when it built and started up a plant in Le Moyen, La. It also operates a softwood plywood plant in Chopin, La., another greenfield project.
Swanson will address the new plywood and veneer facility Swanson Group is building in Springfield, Ore. to replace the plant that a fire destroyed in July 2014. Swanson Group operates veneer, plywood and lumber operations in Glendale and Roseburg, Ore. Swanson Group also purchased Olympic Panel Products in Shelton, Wash. in March and is relocating those assets to the new Springfield facility.
Also on tap is Kurt Liebich, CEO of RedBuilt and New Wood Resources, both companies part of Atlas Holdings. RedBuilt manufactures I-joists, open web trusses and LVL at several manufacaturing plants primarily in the Western U.S.
Liebich joined RedBuilt’s predecessor, Trus Joist, in 1994 and served in numerous senior management roles. He remained with the company when Weyerhauser acquired it in 1999, and was appointed vice president of Trus Joist and later VP of marketing for Weyerhaeuser’s iLevel division. When Atlas Holdings acquired the former commercial division of Trus Joist from Weyerhauser in 2009, it appointed Liebich as president and CEO of the company, which they named RedBuilt.
Atlas Holdings also appointed Liebich as president and CEO of Wood Resources LLC, which later sold with two plywood mills to Boise Cascade. Atlas subsequently formed New Wood Resources with Liebich as CEO. New Wood Resources operates the long-running plywood plant in Omak, Wash., and is also building a new plywood plant in Louisville, Miss., known as Winston Plywood & Veneer.
Brian Carlson, president of OSB manufacturer Huber Engineered Woods LLC, will also join the keynoters lineup. Huber operates five OSB plants. Carlson has worked at Huber for 20 years and in various capacities prior to his promotion to president, including as product and field sales director, VP of sales & marketing and overseeing business development and strategy.
The remaining keynoters as well as the complete agenda of speakers and technical session topics will be released in September.
As of early August, numerous equipment and technology companies had already signed on as exhibitor sponsors of PELICE. Leading the way is Babcock & Wilcox MEGTEC, which is a Gold sponsor not only for PELICE, but for the preceding Wood Energy Conference & Expo.
Early Silver sponsor exhibitors for PELICE include Baumer Inspection, Biele Wood, Brunette, Cogent Industrial Technologies, Con-Vey, Dieffenbacher, Electronic Wood Systems, Evergreen Engineering, GP Chemicals, Globe Machine Manufacturing, Hexion, Imal-Pal, M-E-C, Merritt Machinery/Meinan Machinery, Mid-South Engineering, MoistTech, Raute, Sweed Machinery, TSI/ Sigma Thermal, USNR, Venango Machine, Veneer Services, Westmill Industries, Willamette Valley, as well as Bronze sponsors Ventek and GreCon. (Brunette, Cogent, Con-Vey, Dieffenbacher, Evergreen Engineering, GreCon, Imal-Pal, M-E-C, Mid-South Engineering, MoistTech, TSI-Sigma Thermal, Veneer Services/Biomass Engineering & Equipment will also join B&W MEGTEC as exhibitors in the Wood Energy Conference & Expo.)
For exhibiting information, contact Fred Kurpiel by e-mail: Fredkurpiel@ aol.com or call 678-642-1238.
by Web Editor | Jun 24, 2015 | News, Update
Stemwood Will Cease Operations
StemWood, a New Albany, Ind.-based veneer and lumber operation since 1905, announced it is winding down operations over the next several months while looking for a possibe buyer.
“The exodus of American furniture manufacturing to Asia and the prolonged recession in new housing have been punishing blows to our business model,” states David Wunderlin, president and part owner of StemWood. David Brumett, vice president of manufacturing and partner in ownership, added, “In an effort to persevere, we fine-tuned our strategy, downsized, and survived 2014. Unfortunately, with plummeting market prices for our lumber, and continuously rising operating costs, there is not a sufficient margin to sustain operations any longer.” As material is processed through each department, small groups of the 25 current employees will be let go over the next six to eight months.
“We are blessed with reliable, talented, hard-working and dedicated employees, and are very sorry to break up our well-functioning family,” states Wunderlin. “We know it is a severe hardship, but we are also confident that our folks will be able to secure new jobs. We stand ready to help make that happen.”
The company intends to work closely with WorkOne of Southern Indiana and will reach out to other employers in the wood industry and the community.
Wunderlin notes that the closure is a management decision based on the economics of the company and the industry. The four owners of StemWood, Wunderlin, Brumett, Rodney Bramer, who serves as vice-president of sales, and Kris Johnson, assistant vice-president and plant supervisor, have a combined 100 years of experience with the company.
“StemWood is under no duress from any outside source,” Brumett says. “In fact, we are operating extremely well. Our productivity is high and our quality is excellent. Our management team simply understands how harshly the dynamics of our industry are working against us. If you look around, you can see this has happened throughout our industry, including this very community. We’ve counted over 90 customers and competitors who have ceased production in the past several years, a dozen in southern Indiana alone.”
The owners will actively seek alternative operators or new uses for StemWood. Brumett says they hope a new and vibrant entity can use the facility to provide ongoing value to the community.
StemWood, a 110-year-old company, traces its roots even further back to the mid 1800s in the heyday of steamboat construction along the Ohio River. Shipyards were placed on the shores of the river to produce wood components for the steamboats that patrolled the waterways. In 1905, John Roberts purchased a modern veneer slicer produced by Capital Machine Works in Indianapolis and installed it on the last active shipyard in the community. He began producing sliced decorative hardwood face veneers.
The mill was under new ownership when devastated by the 1937 flood. Chet Stem purchased it and replaced it with the most advanced mill of its day. Opened on Grant Line Road in 1945, the mill has had numerous enhancements and improvements, but the basic footprint of its “new” location is unchanged.
In 1989, Richard Stem (Chester’s son) retired as president after his 50 years of service to the veneer and lumber industry. He sold the mill to James Robinson and David Wunderlin, who has served as president of StemWood since that date. The operation was the cover story of the September 1999 issue of Panel World.
Today, StemWood produces high quality 4⁄4 walnut, cherry, white oak and red oak lumber as well as flitch and clipped and bundled hardwood veneers in a variety of species for a worldwide market.
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