IWPA - Brent McClendon

Not Just Imported Wood...International Wood

2011-06-09T11:23:00.000-04:00

IWPA held a very successful convention in April. It was well attended by our U.S. –based voting members as well as several overseas supplier delegations. Even though we are the “International” Wood Products Association I am always amazed by our diverse membership. Walking the halls of the convention I heard Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Malay, German, Italian, and an interesting dialect of English spoken by our British friends.

The diversity of languages mirrors the supply chain of wood products across the globe. Many countries, just like the U.S., can be classified as consuming, producing and processing countries. The model of “out and in” does not hold true in most cases. Wood or fiber exported from the U.S. may stay in a foreign country. Or, it can make several stops in foreign processing countries before it comes back to U.S. distributors who place products in retail flooring, furniture or gift card stores.

It well known that IWPA members handle both domestic wood and imported wood products. This reflects the fact that imported wood fills unique application niches which do not directly compete with domestic species.

What is not as well known is that the U.S. companies that support IWPA also export as well as import. This was quite evident during our convention as companies were just as aggressively looking for export opportunities while they networked with overseas delegations.

IWPA has a long and close partnership with overseas trade associations whose members manufacture the goods our members import. However, these same associations represent industries that are large consumers of U.S. wood products. Watching business discussions during our convention showed the immense value in companies being able to talk import and export at the same time.

To advance these import/export opportunities, IWPA recently joined the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC). AHEC provides the global hardwood industry – importers, specifiers and end-users – with promotional assistance, technical information and sources of supply for American hardwoods from its offices located in Europe, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai to serve the needs of the global community.

It is known from trade statistics that the one bright spot for domestic U.S. producers is their growing export market. A weak U.S. dollar hurts imports, but helps exports. The recession and its lingering affects on the housing market has depressed the U.S. market for many species. Luckily, the growing middle class in China, India and Middle East is filling that gap.

For example, wood flooring exports to the Middle East increased 119 percent from January through September, according to a report from AMEinfo.com. Flooring is just one product that is experiencing growing consumption in the area. American hardwood exports to the Middle East rose 54 percent, from $49 million to $76 million, during the same period.

American wood exports to China also tells a success story, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China is now the new number 1 market for U.S. agricultural products and the second largest export market for U.S. forest products, just behind Canada.

In this global economy with fewer and fewer straight lines it isn’t practical or wise to continue the pretense that trade is an enemy.

The facts are that business leaders have to be nimble and flexible. The global economy is fluid and the supply chain has to follow the customer – whether building a home in Dubai or Altoona.

Wood imports into the United States provide consumers with a wide range of price points for their homes and recreation. Before the products get to the consumers, U.S. manufacturers, retailers, port workers, truckers all get a piece of the import pie. Same goes for wood exported out of the U.S. for processing and consumption.

So, with high hopes and bolstered by the reality of global trade, we’re confident our partnership with the American Hardwood Export Council will result in increased opportunities for all.

CSI - Imported Wood...Coming to Theaters Everywhere

2011-05-16T16:11:00.001-04:00

CSI – Imported Wood… Coming to Theaters Everywhere

IWPA staff along with an IWPA member recently attended two separate meetings on the legality of wood products trade and new tools emerging in the marketplace. The very fact that these two meetings were held in the same week, in different locations, but still in Washington, DC, with very little overlap in content speaks to the breadth and depth of the Lacey Act.

The take-away message with the most impact for the importing industry is that as new technologies and tools emerge for identification of wood and tracking, the more “due care” action the Department of Justice will expect on behalf of the importer and supply chain. In other words, industry must continue to up their game as to how they ensure their supply is compliant with Lacey.

New technologies dominated much of the discussion.

For example, a new approach that received a fair amount of discussion could bill itself as the CSI of wood products! A company called DoubleHELIX offers DNA tracking of wood. One sample of wood is extracted at the time of harvest and then again during the production process. The samples are tested and the DNA fingerprints are compared. Eventually DoubleHELIX hopes to have enough DNA species samples from supply areas in its library that there will be no need to sample at the point of harvest.

helveta is a UK based firm that offers TracElite to enable the tracking of timber from the standing tree in the ground to finished product for export – right across the supply chain. It is a Web-based application that supplier countries are reportedly instituting in order to meet the new European legality requirements for trade.

Another option, although not discussed at the meetings last week, but on the minds of a number of retail-based trade association, is STRING. STRING is an on-line traceability service which allows companies within a supply chain to set up a virtual data chain alongside the physical product chain. You can learn more about it at https://stringtogether.com/

We are told that all these systems are becoming more and more affordable and readily available (i.e. efficient to manage and implement). This, of course, is quite important for the wide scale adoption of new technologies.

You have to give it to these companies as the constant innovation is amazing. I have found myself watching, just like with CSI, and looking forward to next week’s episode.

What Price Protectionism?

2011-05-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

Quick question for you... What are the consequences if public policies directed at diminishing wood imports into the U.S. are successful?

A) Reduced U.S. manufacturing capacity?

B) Increased U.S. manufacturing capacity?

C) Higher prices and fewer choices for consumers?

D) Lower prices and greater selection for consumers?

If you answered “A” and “C”, you get the golden star. Seems counterintuitive doesn’t it?

But that’s just not the case. Take for example the current International Trade Commission’s inquiry into Chinese flooring imports.

The investigation into the imported flooring was initiated by the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity, a group of U.S. domestic flooring manufacturers. As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce is conducting countervailing and antidumping duty investigations on imports of this product from China. Importers and their U.S. customers are anxiously awaiting the outcome.

But guess who else is watching this case closely? U.S. sawmillers. Why? Because what do you think is going to happen if punishing duties are placed on flooring imports?

China flooring companies will cease buying U.S. woods which they use in manufacturing flooring that is exported back to the American market and around the world. Losing or reducing this export opportunity to China is going to severely impact an industry already facing significant trouble finding a home for their production. Not only that though. Consider this… U.S. flooring mills will have less global competition for the lumber they want to buy, conceivably pushing lumber prices down. Reduced global demand for their lumber, lower prices for their lumber, no wonder sawmillers are concerned.

Think U.S. consumers benefit? Think again! U.S. consumers will find fewer choices when shopping. And do you really think flooring manufacturers will lower prices now that they have less competition?

So who benefits from protectionism? I’ll let you finish that thought.

2010 Imports - An Up and Down Story

2011-03-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

So where do imports compare with a year ago? Year-end data released by the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA FAS), show overall forest products imports increased 16% (Jan-Dec. 2010), compared to same period previous year.

IWPA does a fair amount of analysis of these number for our members (as you might expect). Recent changes in the USDA website have really helped as you now search the entire US database by HTS-code and trading partner. Spend a few minutes and you will quickly see how easily the new database can be used to analyze your market share by specific HTS code.

Sure, there are still challenges. Flooring numbers for example are nearly impossible to track. And some HTS numbers are pretty broad so they include multiple products (some plywood line items and veneer imports for example), but the data transparency is significantly better now than it has ever been.

Take a few minutes, start playing around with their website, I think you'll find for yourself how useful this data will be in your business analysis and ongoing strategic planning.

Click the link below for summary trade data and to directly access the USDA website:
http://www.iwpawood.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=153

Imported from China... Really?

2011-02-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

On my way back from an International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) meeting in Japan, I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, titled, “Not really ‘Made in China.’”

The subject of the story is the Apple’s iPhone. The moral of the story is that although the iPhone is ‘Made in China,” it really isn’t (or at least most of it isn’t). The story cites an amazing statistic that the phone, popular with U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers alike, added $1.9 billion to the U.S. trade deficit with China in 2009. Anyone following the news understands the growing sensitivity toward the U.S. trade deficit and concerns about imports and U.S. jobs. So is buying an iPhone (or iPad for that matter) bad for the U.S. economy and jobs?

Not so fast says the research. Current U.S. Customs practice assigns the whole cost of a product. In the case of an iPhone $178.96 is attributed to China where it was manufactured. However, the cost of constructing an iPhone only accounts for 3.6% or $6.50 of the total cost. The rest of the cost comes from components manufactured in Europe and North America.

Pascal Lamy, who is the director general of the World Trade Organization, is quoted as saying, “What we call made in China is indeed assembled in China, but what makes up the commercial value of the product comes from numerous countries.” The concept of country of origin for manufactured goods has gradually become obsolete.”

Try this… next time you put on a shirt look at the label. One of my shirts, for example, says “100% Egyptian cotton, woven in Italy, manufactured in China.”

Flooring, furniture and other manufactured wood products are products made in similar processes, with value added at every stop and inputs from multiple countries.

This was certainly apparent during market discussions at the ITTO meeting in Japan. Participants highlighted the inter-connectivity and complexity of trade flows. For example, under ITTO standards the U.S is considered a consumer country. Yet according to statistics, in the first ten months of 2010, 2.1 million metric tons of logs and unfinished wood products were exported from the U.S. to China. Again, according to another Wall Street Journal article, the wood exported by the U.S. is used for housing construction and furniture for China’s growing middle class and, yes, some of it is also re-exported to global markets, including the U.S.

The overseas market for U.S. domestic woods is significant and lucrative. The value of these markets are sufficient for the American Hardwood Export Council, representing U.S. hardwood exports, to maintain offices in Europe, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Wood species from the U.S. are shipped to China, India, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East and mixed with wood species from around the world to produce the full range of wood products from heirloom furniture to composite wood flooring.

This worldwide trade means a sawmill in Georgia depends upon the manufacturing capabilities and consumer appetites in the Far East. In the same way, IWPA’s U.S. members rely on an overseas manufacturing plant to produce flooring specified by an American designer. Access to both markets creates jobs and raises real income in the United States.

What’s the moral to this story? World trade makes the United States strong and keeps our standard of living high. World trade is creating new consumers for our “Made in America” trees. It’s opening up opportunities and funding for developing countries to sell their sustainable flooring, furniture, wood products to Americans whether they shop Rodeo Drive or WalMart.

It is in the best interests of the U.S. economy to expand our wood products exports; in the process, we must not place barriers to imports. Both add value, jobs and create consumer choice.

New Group Forms to Keep U.S. Market Open to Imports

2011-02-16T11:27:00.000-05:00

American distributors and retailers form alliance to resist attempt by some large US manufacturers to constrict flooring supply chain in case pending before ITC and DOC American flooring distributors, retailers and importers have formed the “Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring” (AFCJF) to resist an attempt by large U.S. manufacturers to choke off imports of engineered hardwood flooring from China. According to AFCJF President Jonathan Train, the Alliance was formed during the “Surfaces 2011” flooring trade show, January 25-27, in Las Vegas.

Read full press release at http://www.choiceandjobs.com/press.html

Materialicious Website Features Another International Wood Story

2011-02-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

Artistic Law Office Design

Vetter Denk Architecture, an award winning Milwaukee-based firm who designed some of D&K’s other offices, was given the task of creating a fresh interior within a fairly staid office park setting. The firm has done many high-profile residential and commercial projects across North America, working with a variety of materials, from raw panel products in a postmodern prefab house concept, to glass, steel, and of course, rare and exotic woods and veneers. The firm’s focus is on design that’s clean but not cold, and delivering an artisan level of craftsmanship no matter what material they work in.

Imported Hardwoods at the Heart of Millennium Park | materialicious

2011-01-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

Imported Hardwoods at the Heart of Millennium Park materialicious

USITC Finds in Favor of Domestic Flooring Coalition

2011-01-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

In response to a petition filed in October by the Coalition for Coalition for American Hardwood Parity, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) unanimously determined that there is a reasonable indication that U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of multilayered wood flooring from China. The petition alleged that the wood flooring is subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value. As a result of the Commission's affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its countervailing and antidumping duty investigations on imports of this product from China.

The Commission's public report Multilayered Wood Flooring from China (Investigation Nos. 701-TA-476 and 731-TA-1179 (Preliminary), USITC Publication 4206, December 2010) contain the views of the Commission and information developed during the investigations. Copies of the report are available. You can fax your requests to 202-205-2104 or send email to pubrequest@usitc.gov.

Interesting that at the same time of this ruling the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial stating "Antidumping duties typically raise prices on the many to benefit the few, costing more jobs than they protect." Something to consider...

International Trade Commission Investigating Engineered Wood Flooring Imports from China

2010-10-27T11:02:00.000-04:00

The International Trade Commission is beginning a preliminary investigation to determine if multilayered (engineered) wood flooring from China is sold in the United States at dumped and/or subsidized prices. This going to be a fast-moving process, with ITC report due end of November, a conference in DC on November 12, and a preliminary determination due by December 6.

Vist ITC website for detailed info:
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/2010/multilayered_wood_flooring/prelimphase.htm

Contact us (info@iwpawood.org) if you want more information.

EPA seeks small business input into formaldehyde regulation

2010-10-27T10:59:00.000-04:00

The Environmental Protection Agency expects to conduct a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for the development of a proposed rulemaking to implement the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act.

Small entities (such as a manufacturer, laminator, fabricator, importer, distributor or retailer) that makes or works with composite wood products may be eligible to serve as a Small Entity Representative (SER). You may nominate yourself to serve as a SER. Deadline for nominations to be submitted is Nov. 2.

Complete information available at

http://www.epa.gov/sbrefa/formaldehyde.htm.

Europe Following Lacey Path?

2010-06-22T15:40:00.000-04:00

While we participated with Members of Congress, environmental groups and other industry this past week in a reception that formally recognized the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Lacey Act for plant imports, the European Union took its first steps in codifying similar legislation.

Compared to the U.S. Lacey Act, the EU’s proposed regulation is loosey-goosey. It does not encompass the entire supply chain with liability, but focuses on the first operators that place timber and timber products on the market for the first time. It also excludes recycled material, and printed products for the time being. The penalties for violation are predicated on the amount and severity of environmental damage, value of the timber and tax loss among other factors.

Operators will be required to put in place a due diligence system to address three elements: access to information, risk assessment and mitigation of the risk identified. Like the U.S. law, the EU is not offering a prescriptive solution on what constitutes due diligence but identifies certain basic information that must be sought and recorded such as country of harvest, quantity, overseas supplier information etc.

The regulation further calls for the establishment of monitoring organizations to manage due diligence systems. We’ve leaned that the UK Timber Trade Federation intends to apply to the EU for official status as a monitor. The monitors will be under government scrutiny as the regulation calls for regular checks to verify the verifiers (we kind of like that provision).

The EU is expected to approve the regulation in early July, and will become law in 2012.

It will be interesting to see how well the EU process unfolds. Their approach of drafting stand-alone legislation seems to have absolved the many problems with amending an existing wildlife law (the Lacey Act). Two years into Lacey and although primary importers are doing just fine with implementation, those further down the supply chain with more highly processed products are struggling to meet the declaration requirements.

Stopping Forest Loss

2010-05-05T15:42:00.000-04:00

Just back from IWPA’s convention in Miami Beach. Great convention – lots of attendees, informative speakers, and a general sense that the worst days are behind us. Full press release, convention presentations and additional details at http://www.iwpawood.org/.

Lots of business got done in the hallways, over dinner, and even at the pool!

One of the most satisfying programs on the convention agenda were Producer Market reports. These were formal presentations by Ghana, Guyana and Malaysia. Since our industry depends on the sustainability of the resource we trade in – it is imperative that we have knowledge of the forests. To paraphrase, “the state of the forests is strong.” Guyana, Ghana and Malaysia reported on their successful efforts to keep their forests sustainable and valuable.

Coincidentally, during our convention the National Academy of Science released a surprising report that found from 2000 to 2005 Brazil and a number of other tropical countries had lower percentages of forest loss than both the United States and Canada!

The report entitled “Quantification of global gross cover loss” used satellite imagery to quantify forest loss. The researchers found that North America lost the most forest of the six forest covered continents. The U.S. lost six percent of its forest cover during this period for an estimated 120,000 square kilometers. The culprits – fire, insects and, yes, logging.

The report went on to attribute the amount of tropical forest loss that was occurring to forest conversion to croplands and farming.

Hmmm, isn’t that what occurred in the U.S. during the 1800s when land was cleared to support family farms and supply agricultural trade with Europe? So what we have in emerging economies is a development model much like that of the U.S.

Bottom line, despite the doomsday rhetoric, global forestry practices are improving. Global deforestation has slowed. And U.S. design and specification of imported wood products helps support forestry dependent communities and advance sustainable forest management in our world’s great forests.

Unfortunately, as we know from experience here in the U.S., if there is no value to forests they will be cleared.

Moving from Conflict to Collaboration

2010-04-19T13:54:00.000-04:00

Consider the following:

(1) “Timber theft is a problem across (fill in the blank)”

(2) “As the value of forest products increase, so does timber theft. (Fill in the blank)’s high percentage of absentee forest ownership, especially in (fill in the blank), makes this area particularly vulnerable to scams and theft.

(3) “Timber theft continues in (fill in the blank) despite tougher law.

What first comes to mind? I suspect your initial guess at filling in the blanks would be names of foreign countries. Turns out you’d be wrong. All of the above involve U.S. activity. The first example is from the Virginia Department of Forestry Web site. The second is found on the Oklahoma State Forestry Web site. Number three was reported in the Syracuse Post Standard regarding timber theft in central New York state.

Despite what you read in the promotional material from U.S. flooring and other domestic wood industry publications, and a seemingly growing number of their advertisers, timber theft and illegal logging isn’t just a problem in developing countries. It happens here -- along with land ownership disputes, controversial clear-cutting and environmental law violations. The point of this article is not to target the problem of illegal logging in the U.S. but rather put into perspective that the constant controversy over wood that is in many cases generated by our own folks, is claiming victims on both sides of the borders.

The overwhelming majority of wood products manufactured in the U.S. and abroad come from responsibly managed forests. Furthermore, study after study has shown that wood of suspicious origin is likely to be consumed within the country of its harvest, and therefore does not enter into global trade.

Imports are legal, responsible, beautiful, durable and here to stay. Consumers vote with their checkbooks and they are voting for ipe decking, jatoba flooring, mahogany doors and anigre cabinets. At this point, all involved in the wood industry should welcome consumer acceptance of ANY wood.

The entire wood industry both domestic and imported is in jeopardy of losing market share to alternative materials. Recycled plastic lumber is growing in market share for decking and fencing applications. Interior steel doors are finished to look like wood. Concrete is being offered as framing material. Vinyl overlays look just like wood veneer. These and other substitutes are being offered as “green” alternatives to chopping down trees!

We need to leave behind old beliefs and battles and instead focus on the future of wood consumption by creating closer bonds of coordination between trade associations and industry colleagues.

Company advertisements and trade association publications that continue to raise the specter of illegality of imports do the entire industry a disservice. Domestic industry lobbied hard for Lacey, they got what they wanted – a level playing field.

Imported wood products are now “de facto” certified as legal and sustainable under Lacey. It is ironic that likely the best thing for imports is the Lacey Act. Imports now come in with the seal of approval from U.S. officials and are helping architects and designers increasingly specify imported wood products.

Although domestic wood has no such certification process via Lacey, we strongly believe the sustainable argument for industry should be that all wood is good.

It’s time to call an end to the trade skirmishes and get back to selling and promoting wood as the most environmentally friendly and sustainable resource.

DNA Wood Tracking

2010-02-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

This morning IWPA hosted two representatives from the DoubleHeli Tracking Technologies. They are visiting the United States to meet with government and industry to educate and promote a DNA-based timber tracking system.

Needless to say, the briefing was fascinating. Describing DNA as the natural “barcode” they hope to be able to trace wood back from a finished product to its origin within 300 kilometers of certainty.

The group began its DNA tracking with merbau in Indonesia and hopes to expand its pilot project to another species located in another region. Funding for their projects comes from the government of Singapore and the International Tropical Timber Organization.

Without getting too much into the “weeds,” the company is creating a DNA geno-graphic database, which is done by analyzing specific DNA markers that are unique to a particular species of timber, but vary across different geographic regions. The task is daunting as it would involve testing thousands of wood samples across the globe and mapping the genetic variations.

Another challenge is to capture useable DNA as it degrades during the cutting and manufacturing process.

The company representatives are confident that their international team of genetic scientists can overcome these challenges to make DNA tracing easy and affordable for the industry to verify the origin of their timber supplies and for law enforcement agencies to conduct spot-checks of timber imports.

Stay tuned as this project evolves….

Are Trade Barriers on the Rise?

2010-01-07T11:55:00.004-05:00

Just returned from a presentation on rising protectionism in global trade. The presentation featured findings of the Global Trade Alert Project and featured Simon Evenett, an economist involved in the Global trade alert project and Ed Gresser, a staff economist with the Democratic Leadership Conference.

The audience was very international with many Embassies represented. My impression was that they were expecting to hear only about U.S. protectionist measures. Instead, most of their countries were also fingered as culprits. Only Canada seemed to get a pass.

According to Evenett, the world's governments have implemented 297 “beggar-thy-neighbour” policy measures since last November; that is, more than one for every working day. Developed countries were responsible for imposing 184 of these protectionist measures.

Evenett believes the nature of trade barriers is changing. In addition to the usual anti-dumping and countervailing duties, more countries are offering bailouts and subsidies to domestic industries. He also cited an uptick in “buy national” requirements in public procurement legislation as was included in the U.S. stimulus package. Evernett predicts high unemployment to continue with the consequence of more protectionism.

There was an interesting suggestion by an audience member recommending that the Global Trade Alert Project study the impact of technical and regulatory measures (can you say Lacey Act and CARB?) as barriers to trade.

Ed Gresser presented the flip side of the issue. He dismissed bail-outs of the U.S. auto industry and financial institutions as protectionism.

To quote from its Website, “Whether interested in "naming and shaming" protectionist governments, in detailed country and sectoral information on beggar-thy-neighbour policies, or in up-to-date analyses of commercial policymaking in leading Asian nations, Global Trade Alert provides a fresh, independent perspective on crisis-era protectionism.”

View the presentation and learn more about the Global Trade Alert Project at http://www.globaltradealert.org/

Senate Committee Considers Formaldehyde Bill. Talks Trade

2009-12-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

Just came back from a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting and thought you'd be interested with my "inside the beltway" thoughts.

Most of the work in the House and Senate is done behind-the-scenes, by staffers and industry/ngo lobbyists that all share opinions in advance with elected officials on issues that are crucial to their constituencies. That is one reason why an association's government affairs programs is so critical, to establish relationships way in advance for when they are needed. IWPA staff worked this bill in advance of today’s meeting. We’ve been talking with bill sponsors and committee members to ensure our members’ interests were given due consideration. Most importantly – adequate sell thru time.

So, with the real work done in advance, the committee meeting is procedural or seemingly related to posturing for the press.

In today's case, there were only three substantive comments made on S.1660 (the bill that would establish a national standard on formaldehyde emissions related to composite wood products).

A Republican leader expressed his disappointment that no hearing has occurred on this piece of legislation, potentially limiting input and transparency.

The Democratic sponsor, Sen. Klobuchar, used her opening statement to make trade related comments that domestic wood products meet voluntary standards and imports do not, that this bill will level the playing field and eliminate the harmful products that are entering the U.S. from China, etc...

The only real health-related comment made regarding this bill came from Sen. Boxer, the EPW Committee Chair. She mentioned the bill helps move the industry toward the elimination of all formaldehyde in composite wood products.

While there is a lot of water to still run under the bridge on this issue, with final Senate passage and House action still unclear, a significant step forward occurred today. We very much support the ideals of this legislation. Of course, it would make it significantly easier for everyone to work together if the anti-import rhetoric could be toned down. In this industry we all know that imports meet the same voluntary standards as domestic products. In fact, imports are being used by U.S. producers as they manufacture products that meets these same voluntary standards, so statements to the contrary are certainly misinformed.

As an association, IWPA will continue to work with our elected leaders to assure that high-quality, imported wood products remain available to U.S. manufacturers, distributors and consumers.

Now, here is a quick summary of the bill's details. Full information and bill text to be posted soon at www.iwpawood.org

1) Sets federal standard at CARB emissions limits.

2) Significantly reduces "laminator" exemption (providing it only for companies that make finished goods). All other companies (e.g. custom plywood manufacturers, component manufacturers, etc...) would need to be third-party certified (even if buying certified plywood as their inputs).

3) Gives EPA broad discretionary authority to ultimately do what they want, including changing definitions and scope.

4) Effective date likely 2012 or 2013 with sell-through giving more time after.

We welcome your comments as do all the other trade associations that you support. Active industry input is crucial for all of us as we work to inform our elected leaders and assure this well-intentioned bill meets the objectives without unintentionally and needlessly harming industry.

Import Stats and Trendlines

2009-11-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

No matter how you analyze the numbers, business isn't pretty right now.

IWPA's complete statistics are posted at http://www.iwpawood.org/ for our members to download and dive into and analyze against their numbers. A concise summary of hardwood lumber imports was just written by Hardwood Publishing's Hardwood Report. "U.S. hardwood lumber imports totaled 160 million board feet (MMBF) (378,495 cubic meters) during the first three quarters of 2009. This represents a decline of 44% from the same period last year and 74% from the 614 MMBF (1.448 million cubic meters) imported during the Jan-Sept 2005 peak. Year-on-year imports from Africa plunged 59% (information@hardwoodpublishing.com)".

Hardwood plywood numbers aren't any better - and depending on species and country of export - are worse.

U.S. GDP numbers aren't pretty either. According to the Commerce Department, the economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace last quarter, below the 3.5 percent growth rate for the July-September period that was estimated just a month ago. Important factors for the GDP downgrade that we see clearly in our business: consumers didn't spend as much and businesses continued to reduce their inventories.

However, we should all back away from the ledge as times are starting to show signs of life. Inventories have been so reduced that spot shortages are already emerging. Leading Economic Indicators increased for the seventh consecutive month in October. The NAHB Housing Market Index showed month after month of increases from June until October, with November remainingd unchanged from those levels. Home building confidence, while still low, has significant potential to lead to growth in all our key sectors... kitchen cabinet, flooring, flooring underlayment, moulding and millwork, windows and doors. The consumer is also starting to spend. Ok, so they are looking first at prices, focused on clearance sales and the like, but any buying at this point beats where we've been.

Sure, our business is different than it was. But change can also be good.

IWPA's membership has grown with nearly 10 companies joining in the past few weeks. These are companies investing in their future. Investing in their growth. No one can grow by cutting and it appears the time for opportunistic buying is upon us, whether you are a customer or a business.

Blog Lessons for us "newbies"

2009-11-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

Too good not to highlight a few of my favorites and share for group's benefit.

October 19, 2009 - 50 Blogging Lessons To Know If You’re Starting Today
Originally Posted by Adam Singer in Marketing and Public Relations

The benefits of this type of blogging are clear as day:

•71% have greater visibility in their industry
•63% said clients purchased products and services
•56% stated their company was now regarded as a thought leader
•40% have been asked to speak at conferences

These stats support many of the reasons your small business should have a blog. And, despite the explosive growth of real-time services, there remain far more reasons you should blog and not just Tweet.

The coming year will bring something more important than simply showing a higher number of blogs. The secret (if it ever really was a secret) is out: blogs are the ultimate marketing tool. And as more become fluent in digital communications, the value of it will continue to grow for businesses and individuals alike.

Lessons for those just starting a blog today:

1. Speed and agility win, period. It’s not about overly refining content and having layers upon layers of approval and editing, it’s about freedom to converse and try out new ideas.

3. Allow an absolute minimum of one year solid commitment (posting 3-5x weekly, or even daily) before you start to see compelling results. Be mindful of the fact it may take longer.

5. Branding is vital – your blog requires a strong or unique brand. If the name of your blog isn’t sticky, you’re already at a disadvantage compared to your peers. Have some thought behind creating your blog’s name, being especially conscious that it will resonate with your target audience.

8. Embrace being imperfect. Trust me, you’re going to have things like typos and sentences which aren’t grammatically perfect. Make peace with this soon and you’ll have a lot more fun.

9. Speaking of fun – if you don’t find writing about your topic of choice fun, stop and write about something else. If the process isn’t enjoyable, your content will feel contrived – and no one enjoys contrived words.

10. If you’re not learning as part of the process, stop. Blogging should be like going to the gym for your brain.

13. Answer the “so what?” question with every post. If you have no reason for being, don’t write it.

17. Become a web analytics geek – learn to interpret what all the data points mean and how to use this data to help create killer content.

18. If it doesn’t move you emotionally, don’t write it (realize emotion is relative – it doesn’t have to move every member of your audience, but if it moves you then you’ve done it right: it’s going to impact someone else that way too).

20. If you’re ever stuck, just start to write (that’s just one of 15 tips for how to overcome writer’s block).

26. Take the viewpoint that blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.

27. The idea of a “blog launch” is a bit of a fallacy. You launched, but who cares – you’ve proved nothing so far. You haven’t put in the effort and earn permission to earn a true opt-in community interested in seeing you grow. Most of the biggest name blogs launched with little fanfare and grew organically over time, bit by bit. As Seth Godin likes to put it: drip, drip, drip, you win.

30. Give a full effort – if you’re going to give a half effort don’t even bother, there is far too much competition here for that to work.

32. Realize that persistance rules – this is possibly the most common quality of successful bloggers.

34. Consider how blogging is in many ways like chess – develop strategies accordingly.

40. Write detailed, in depth posts. In a world over-saturated with short attention spans, draw out the smart people by not shying away from detail – they’ll appreciate it.

44. Realize that promotion is secondary to content.

50. Be a catalyst to action for readers: inspire them to do things which lead to happiness, success and prosperity. There’s so much negativity in the world that sometimes a bit of positivity can be that missing element which tips the scales and helps you succeed.

Social Media - A One Week Report Card

2009-11-13T11:32:00.000-05:00

It has now been exactly one week since IWPA jumped into social media with both feet. One week since we set up our Twitter account, our Linkedin group, our Facebook fan page and this Blog site.

The results? Fairly surprising.

With no advance notice to our members and no "traditional" media relations activities like issuing press releases, we've seen the following results:

Linkedin Group went from 0 to 150, with a significant number of these representing nonmembers.

IWPA's website (http://www.iwpawood.org/) saw traffic jump 41% and is continuing to grow from those levels. The length of time people stay on our site has increased as have their number of page views.

Our Twitter site (http://twitter.com/iwpawood) has grown to 14 followers.

How are we using these different sites?

Twitter is our "fast-response" service. The recent announcement by CARB extending sell-through periods was "tweeted" within seconds of our receiving the notice.

Linkedin is a great forum for discussions and exchanges of ideas. Current discussion topics include convention topics, political topics and what is social media's value for business.

Our Facebook Fan Page allows us to provide frequent updates on association business.

And this Blogger site allows for a more thorough sharing of thoughts (and some might say rambling ideas).

Together they bring a number of additional tools that drives business to our website, expands our network of IWPA interested folks and enhances our ability to quickly inform our membership.

Hmmm.... seems like these could have value for your business as well. Why not give it a try?

Recent Elections and What's Expected in 2010

2009-11-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

I attended an informative and enjoyable briefing last Friday hosted by Leading Authorities, Inc. that had two leading political pundits give their prognostication on what to expect politically in 2010. Charlie Cook (Publisher of the Cook Political Report and Columnist for the National Journal) and Stu Rothenberg (Editor and Publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report and Columnist for Roll Call) are frequently seen on TV and their analysis is clearly listened to by all elected officials.

Here is a snapshot of what was said...

The elections show the country has turned the page on Bush's Presidency. It used to be that Democrats just had to mention the word "Bush" to win an election. Now that is not the case. People are increasingly asking when Obama's economic plan will work, and why isn't it working yet?

With unemployment above 10% and expected to stay that way throughout most of 2010, with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and continuing budgetary woes, the Democrats are facing tremendous headwinds. That, combined with traditional off-year election losses for the party that holds the White House, Democrats could see losses of 15-25 or more House seats and 1-4 Senate seats. If something occurs with Iran or otherwise adds to international worries, then losses could be even higher.

However, the Republican party has a current approval rating that roughly mirrors Nancy Pelosi's, with no national leader, intra-party squables and signficant problems with hispanic voters. These issues undermine the gains they could achieve in 2010.

These gentlemen suggested that the recent election was still about change - just a different party is now benefitting. The growing skepticism and apprehension of independents will ultimately determine what happens in 2010 so pay close attention to polls that track how these voters are trending.

A lot of water still to run under the bridge before November 2010 but expect those waters to be quite turbulent.

Disturbing trends, rough road ahead. Pulling together only solution.

2009-11-06T12:10:00.003-05:00

The International Tropical Timber Organization is meeting next week in Yokohama, Japan. This intergovernmental organization that exists to promote the conservation and sustainable management, use and trade of tropical forest resources meets against a backgdrop of troubling and ongoing economic signs.

U.S. imports of wood products are down 35% with U.S. lumber imports down 46% and plywood imports down 35% from last year's already less than stellar pace. When you look specifically at tropical wood imports you see trade statistics down up to 70% or more depending on country and species. Some of our closest and most important trading partners have been most critically hit.
Here are a few examples: U.S. plywood imports from Malaysia are down 66% and lumber imports from Brazil down 54%. When you drill down further into specific species it gets even worse, for example, with Ipe imports from Brazil are down 67%. No matter how you analyze the numbers the result is the same… brutal.

So when people share with me their concern that imports are taking U.S. jobs it is easy for me to explain that no, in fact, imports support U.S. jobs. Declining imports are threatening jobs throughout the U.S. manufacturing, distribution and logistics chain. From ports, to our transportation network, to our local lumberyard, we see the dramatic impact that reduced imports are having on our neighbors and our economy.

With unemployment in the U.S. now above 10% and leading economists projecting it to stay that way for up to another year, the wood business needs to pull together to get through these challenging times. Working together we can improve the market for wood products and help improve job opportunities in our trade.

What do I mean by working together?

First, and yes this is a bit of self-promotion, now more than ever industry needs to support their associations. The always lurking "free rider syndrome" isn't a problem when everything is going strong. Now, however, industry can not expect a few leading companies to carry their water for them.

That being said, associations aren't off the hook either. Associations themselves need to work closer together, find efficiencies and stretch how far each dollar goes that is shared with us by our members. We also need to seriously review our traditional products and services and embrace new technology.

This is IWPA's first blog post, soon to be followed by our first Tweet and accompanies our new presence on FaceBook and an upcoming LinkedIn group. Our new web-based content management system puts information in our members hands and lets us track everything from click-throughs to meeting management. And, this is just the beginning...

A new dawn is emerging and I'm proud to work closely with so many industry leaders that are breaking old barriers and fertilizing the soil during this drought so that when the rains come our industry will grow stronger than ever. Let that day start today.