Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. As 2022 comes to a close, it’s been a year where Covid-19 and disrupted supply chains have been replaced by a return to ‘normal’ operations, but with high global inflation and shifting timber demand. Here are the top 5 read stories from WoodTECH News this year: As you can see above, the most popular …
Record shipments of Russian timber – via China
Timber from Russia has in recent years been sent through China for processing but since the Ukraine invasion by Russia, and the declaration of Russian timber as conflict timber, the volumes have grown substantially. Australian builders, architects, and specifiers who for nearly nine months have agonised over an ever-widening supply gap in high-strength engineered wood products have found an unforeseen …
Expressions of Interest: Residues2Revenues 2023
Early expressions of interest to present at next year’s Residues2Revenues 2023 event are now been called for. This year saw record numbers of forestry, wood harvesting, timber products companies and wood residues extraction and handling specialists turn up in Rotorua, New Zealand. The venue, with conference, pre and post conference workshops and exhibitions sold out. With developments in biomass utilisation so rapidly unfolding …
Industrial robot installations hit record high
With more than 500,000 new units put in place last year – topping the half-million mark for the first time – the IFR reported that annual robot installations have more than doubled worldwide in the past five years. A global market summary by the International Federation of Robotics reports that 517,000 industrial robots were put in place worldwide during 2021, …
Australian timber research centre continues vital work
WoodChat Episode 26 places spotlight on National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life A hugely positive mid-term review of the FWPA-supported National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life has resulted in the extension of the Centre’s important research activities for a further five years, with the potential for three more. The latest episode of FWPA’s WoodChat podcast series …
Europe’s energy crisis: the wood squeeze
As much as 70 percent of European heating comes from natural gas and electricity, and with Russian deliveries drastically reduced, wood — already used by some 40 million people for heating — has become a sought-after commodity. Prices for wood pellets nearly doubled to 600 euros a ton in France, and there are signs of panic buying. Hungary has banned …
November 2022 NZ log market update
Opinion piece: Inflation is front and centre of everyone’s minds at present and is more than likely causing Grant Robertson many sleepless nights. One of his biggest worries (and he’s got plenty) will be whether Adrian Orr brings out the big guns in the next OCR round and gives us all a 75-basis point punch in the face. Then there’s …
RFID tracks workprogress for frame producer
Van de Vin predicts it will save tens of thousands of euros, having replaced its paper-based manual tracking system with the automated capture of digital data. When builders and homeowners require custom-made windows and frames, they typically have little room for delays. With that in mind, Van de Vin recently deployed an RFID-based solution to track its custom wooden window …
What it took to get us to stay
The top reasons for staying with a company include pay, training and schedules. Pouring over data, analysing trends and evaluating the efficacy of policies are often how companies study their retention efforts. While those methods offer insights, the best resource for finding out why employees stay at their jobs is to ask them. IW did that and spoke with three …
40% denser than engineered wood – SEB
Pretentious as it may sound, we can say with certainty that bamboo is one of the most promising materials for the future of the construction industry. Neil Thomas, principal engineer at atelier one, says that if we were to design an ideal building material, it would look a lot like bamboo. This is because it grows very fast, is present …
Wellons Press Release: Advances in lumber drying systems
“Renewable energy”, “green power”, “carbon neutral” and “reduced carbon footprint” can all be used to describe the energy and lumber drying systems provided by Wellons. An industry leader, Wellons has the unique ability to provide complete, biomass-fired, lumber drying systems with products of its own design and manufacture. Wellons lumber drying systems include counterflow and parallel flow continuous lumber dry …
WoodTECH News | Issue 53
Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. Last month we highlighted one of the world’s most advanced sawmills, a Finland-based mill that runs everything out of a single control room. Manufacturers around the globe are investing heavily in automation, with new numbers showing the use of robotics has more than doubled in the past five years. There are now 3.5 million …
General Manager Jubilee Sawmill announced
OneFortyOne is pleased to announce Nigel Boyd in the role of General Manager of Jubilee Sawmill. Nigel started his career in the timber industry in 1992 as an apprentice Saw Doctor. He has worked across optimisation and leadership functions in progressively more senior roles. He has been Jubilee’s Production Manager since 2018. Acting CEO Peter Brydon said “Nigel brings a …
New Executive GM, OFO Wood Products Australia
OneFortyOne is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Bloomfield to the newly created Executive General Manager Wood Products Australia role. Mike has held the position of General Manager Sales and Marketing at OneFortyOne since 2017. In this time, he has had a significant impact on the growth of OneFortyOne’s Wood Products business in domestic and international markets. Mike’s strong …
Carter Holt constrains timber supply for 18 months
NZ builders say the supply crisis has eased for many critical products – but now they face a plummeting demand crisis that threatens to drive more of them to the wall. Suppliers ITM and Mitre 10 say they’re being squeezed by the timber company Carter Holt Harvey allocating structural timber to its own retail outlets by preference. It’s a last, …
Revolutionary bio-based Particle Board
Koskisen is a Finnish wood industry company producing sawn timber and panel products, such as birch plywood, furniture, and construction boards made of chip board. Koskisen uses Stora Enso’s bio-based binder, NeoLigno® by Stora Enso, to replace fossil-based resins used in furniture boards. Both the furniture board raw material and the binder are made of wood and sourced from the …
Govt partnership to explore sustainable wood products
A new partnership between the NZ Government and Oji Fibre Solutions could boost the development of sustainable wood products, hydrogen and bio-fuels at the Kinleith Mill near Tokoroa, creating jobs and reducing emissions across the economy Forestry Minister Stuart Nash announced on Thursday. “This partnership is one of the first tangible actions from the draft Forestry and Wood Processing Industry …
Skilled inmate employment helps mill operation
A Mannus Correctional Centre works release program is providing inmates with employment opportunities, while helping meet an unprecedented demand for timber by filling a labour shortage in the state’s largest sawmill. Hyne Timber Tumbarumba Sawmill, which has a long-standing relationship with Corrective Services NSW, expanded its employment of minimum-security inmates after bushfire and housing shortages left the mill unable to …
Industrial robot installations hit record high
With more than 500,000 new units put in place last year – topping the half-million mark for the first time – the IFR reported that annual robot installations have more than doubled worldwide in the past five years. A global market summary by the International Federation of Robotics reports that 517,000 industrial robots were put in place worldwide during 2021, …
Glued joints in Radiata Pine Cross Laminated Timber
With more than ten years of research and practical experience in wood science and timber engineering, Younes Shirmohammadli is motivated and prepared to contribute to the timber engineering industry. Younes is one of two PhD students at the University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering to have received a grant from the WIDE Trust to pursue his research studies this year. …
WoodTECH News | Issue 52
Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. The timber industry is continuing to evolve as new technologies are being integrated into the sector. Metsa Fibre has just announced that one of the most advanced sawmills in the world has officially started operating. Based in Rauma, Finland, this sawmill is controlled from a single control room and makes use of machine vision, self-learning …
State-of-the-art sawmill starts in Finland
The new state-of-the-art pine sawmill in Rauma in Finland, owned by Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, has moved from production test run to continuous sawn timber production. The sawmill is operating continuously in three shifts. Construction of the Rauma sawmill started in the spring of 2020, and the value of the investment is approximately EUR 260 million. This is …
Heat & resin treatment planned for NZ Radiata pine
A joint venture in New Zealand has been set up with the timber modification expertise and experience of Denmark’s IWT-Moldrup have combined with the timber processing acumen of New Zealand-based Tunnicliffe Timber. The process sees New Zealand radiata pine being thermally modified, using IWT-Moldrup’s equipment and then further modified by the introduction of a new, proprietary resin treatment of IWT-Moldrup´s …
Orbost timber workers face an uncertain future
The current timber supply shortages in Victoria, Australia, brought about by vexatious legal action against VicForests is causing anguish among the people of Orbost, where 37% of its workforce faces the axe. Already thrown into an atmosphere of uncertainty with the announcement in 2019 that the Andrews Government would inexplicably shut down native timber harvesting by 2030, Orbost is the …
USNR Sells DynaStar™ Maintenance Management Software
USNR has announced they have sold the DynaStar™ Maintenance Management Software to DrekiTek™ Software Solutions Ltd. USNR looks forward to a long-term relationship with DrekiTek™ Software Solutions Ltd as it continues the development and support of the DynaStar™ system. DynaStar™ customers will continue to receive the excellent support they expect along with ongoing development of the product. Existing Software Support …
Creative resources to share Timber Framing story
Last month we covered the story of the Timber Framing Collective in Australia and how they are introducing a suite of easy-to use creative resources to help share the remarkable green story of Timber Framing. Timber framing is the ultimate building material. It’s natural, strong and the only framing resource that tackles climate change. Research shows that 78% of consumers …
World’s 2nd electric log truck for Fennell Forestry
As a follow up to the local electric log truck story that we ran in the 9 September issue, we’ve built in more information this week on Fennell Forestry who’re taking the crucial first step towards decarbonising Australia’s heavy vehicle transport industry. The Mount Gambier based harvest and haulage company has commissioned the world’s second ever electric log truck, in …
Latest edition of Australian timber report released
Softwood timber products – Quarterly Prices for untreated MGP structural timber products stabilised in the June quarter 2022, with price movements ranging between no change and 0.6% higher. Prices for treated outdoor products showed stronger increases, ranging between 1.7% and 2.8% higher. Prices for most panel products showed moderate increases of up to 1.4%, while price movements for particleboard products …