News in international markets

CoreLogic is reporting that Australian homes prices in February 2021, rose at a pace not seen since August of 2003. As government incentives and record low borrowing rates drew more buyers into the housing market and raised concerns about them overheating. The CoreLogic data showed national home prices rose 2.1% in February, from January when they added 0.9%.

In a note to its members, the National Hardwood Lumber Association reports that China has agreed to extend tariff exemptions on 65 imported products from the United States. Seven hardwood log and lumber products have made that list.

James Jones & Sons Ltd, the UK’s largest privately owned sawmill, timber engineering and pallet manufacturing company, has announced the purchase of GT Timber Ltd, the holding company of Taylormade Timber Products Ltd and Kerr Timber Products Ltd which operate sawmill facilities at Sherburn Hill, Durham and Annan.

The window of opportunity for salvaging and shipping timber impacted by last year’s Australian bushfires is quickly approaching. Kangaroo Island Plantation Timber (KIPT) needs to move both fresh and damaged crop off the island and to the mainland.

Sveza, one of the world leaders in birch plywood production, has installed a second CNC machine at its St. Petersburg, Russia mill. The new CNC machine has programed numerical controls and a distinctive feature of the new CNC machine is its ability to perform operations with plywood of large and non-standard formats.

Australia is facing an unusual problem with finding a home for much of their below sawmill standard logs. These logs include those cut down in plantation thinning, are piling up in regional areas further south as operators avoid the cost of carting them to once-busy port stockyards.

Latvian timber product exports to the U.S. continue to grow. However, up until now, most of those shipments have typically been done in smaller quantities and in containers with transshipment in Rotterdam, or in one of the other major European container ports.

VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen-und Anlagenbau, German Engineering Federation) which represents 3300 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies remains optimistic for an improving business climate in 2021. VDMA is expecting a 3% increase in product sales.