Egger Group, headquartered in Sankt Johanna, Austria, with over 17 production sites in Europe is in the process of bringing their first new, state-of-the-art particle board manufacturing plant with lamination capabilities online in North America in Lexington North Carolina.
Wood Markets News
FEA’s Weekly Order Survey Participants Report Season Sales Volumes
Dealers who responded to this week’s Builder Activity Survey continue to report that their sales volumes are close to seasonal norms. Participants along the Gulf Coast, who are dealing with flooding rains and in the West where wildfires continue to burn, are somewhat less enthusiastic than participants in other areas of the country.
Nova Scotia’s Forests Remain Active Despite the Closure of the Northern Pulp Mill in January
At the end of January, when the Northern Pulp mill closed its doors, unable to secure governmental environmental approval to build a new effluent treatment facility, many local residents believed that their hopes of clear cutting coming to an end in the province was close at hand.
Oregon’s Governor Provides Wildfire Containment Update and Looks to the Future
Oregon Governor Kate Brown said on Wednesday (9/23) that Oregon’s wildfires have “turned a corner” as firefighters continue to make significant progress on containing the flames. However, she cautioned that Oregonians still face a long road to recovery.
Canadian Government Investing $4 million on Mass Timber Buildings at Chalk River Laboratories
The Canadian government is investing nearly $4 million (CAD) in the construction of a mass timber buildings at the Atomic Energy of Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.
Mortgage Rates Creep Higher in Week Ending September 24th, 2020
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending September 24th, 2020. The PMMS shows that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.90% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.87%.
New Home Sales Increase 4.8% in August
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the sales of new single-family houses in August 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,011,000. This is 4.8% above the revised July rate of 965,000 and is 43.2% above the August 2019 estimate of 706,000.
Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Higher for the Week Ending September 19th, 2020
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 870,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, September 19th. An increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Downturn Impacts Timber Industry Dependent Towns
Citing a lack of demand for paper products due to COVID-19 pandemic and the switch to digital media, Verso Corporation announced the closure of their mill in Duluth Minnesota in June, and that was quickly followed by the closure of the Wisconsin Rapids mill in July.
Eastern Washington University’s Catalyst Building in Downtown Spokane Washington the Newest Mass Timber Building in the U.S.
The city of Spokane Washington was founded in 1873, surrounded by some North America’s most productive forests. However, until recently Spokane has never really focused on timber products in construction.