U.S. Softwood Exports Making Headway in Thailand

From USDA:

Posted by Ryan Brewster, International Agricultural Training Specialist, Cochran Fellowship Program - Asia Region, Foreign Agricultural Service, on January 7, 2015 at 1:00 PM

A delegation of Thai lumber company executives (including Opas Panitchewakul, Pracha Thawornjira, Jaroonsak Cheewatammanon, Khomwit Boonthamrongkit and Wasant Sonchaiwanich) tours the Mauvila Timber distribution warehouse in Loxly, Ala., with Lane Merchant (left), the company’s general manager.

The pine forests of Georgia and the Pacific Northwest are a far cry from the crowded streets of Bangkok, where several shipments of U.S. softwood products are headed thanks to a collaborative effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the Southern Forest Products Association and the Softwood Export Council.

In June 2014, executives from five Thai lumber companies visited the United States under the auspices of FAS’s Cochran Fellowship Program. Thanks to the knowledge they gained and the relationships they forged with the U.S. softwood industry during their visit, several participants subsequently made first-time purchases of U.S. softwood. These initial purchases are a big step for U.S. softwood producers to make headway into the $58 million market in Thailand.

The Thai visitors received an extensive overview of the U.S. wood products industry, focusing on everything from grading and treating of wood, to sawmill operations, to export regulations. They toured nurseries, sawmills, a treatment plant, export warehouses, and even construction sites where they could see U.S. softwood being put to use.

The participants credited the Cochran training with providing them a greater understanding of U.S. softwood, even helping them better differentiate qualities of U.S. softwood from similar products from New Zealand and Australia.

Mr. Khomwit Boonthamrongkit, managing director of SBP Timber Group, said, “The knowledge I gained from the Cochran softwood training program is very useful. I really want to learn more about U.S. softwood species and applications of those species, and because of the training I plan on setting up an agent to facilitate my company’s requirement and inspection of U.S. lumber imports.”

The Cochran Fellowship program is one way FAS helps promote food security and build stronger trade relationships with middle income countries and emerging markets. Since 1984, the program has trained more than 16,300 fellows from more than 120 countries. To learn more about the Cochran Fellowship program, visit www.fas.usda.gov/programs/cochran-fellowship-program.

The Future is Here ... and it's Made of Wood

From USDA:

Posted by Dave Atkins, Cooperative Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, on December 17, 2014 at 10:00 AM

The Federal Center South in Seattle makes extensive use of wood. (Federal Center South – Building 1202; ZGA Architects; photo Benjamin Benschneider, WoodWorks 2014 Commercial Wood Design Award). Used with permission.

It’s a good time for building with wood products. More architects and contractors are returning to this renewable, sturdy, all-purpose material after decades of what some might consider an undue reliance on concrete and steel.

In furthering that message, I was pleased to join WoodWorks, a nonprofit organization supported by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service, to host more than 350 architects and builders this year at the Wood Solutions Fair in the District of Columbia.

The fair promoted the use of wood in commercial buildings in helping maintain sustainable forest management, addressing wildfires, droughts, extreme storms and insect epidemics. Wood buildings store tremendous amounts of carbon and reduce the fossil energy needed for construction over alternatives like concrete, steel and aluminum.

The Forest Service and WoodWorks are also promoting the growing use of Cross Laminated Timber, a building product that can facilitate making highrise structures with wood. The Forest Service, USDA Rural Development and the Softwood Lumber Board are providing $2 million to incentivize the construction of the first highrise in the U.S. made with wood.

In the second quarter of this year, WoodWorks was able to influence and convert 88 projects currently under production. That translates into $33 million in incremental lumber sales, which represents 65 million board feet of lumber. This progress is good news for America’s environment but also good for America’s timber industry. The use of forest products in the United States currently supports more than 1 million direct jobs, particularly in rural areas, and contributes more than $100 billion to the country’s gross domestic product.

Three years ago, the authors of the Forest Service study Science Supporting the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Using Wood and Wood Products in Green Building Construction, reviewed the scientific literature and found that using wood in building products yields fewer greenhouse gases than using other common materials.

“In the Rockies alone, we have hundreds of thousands of dead trees killed by bark beetles that could find their way into the building supply chain for all types of buildings,” Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said at the time. “Taking a harder look at wood as a green building source could reduce the damages posed by future fires, maintain overall forest health and provide much-needed jobs in local communities.”

Building with wood is poised to be the next big thing in green construction. The Forest Service is working diligently to help make that possibility a reality. I think we can say with confidence that the future, indeed, is made of wood.