The housing sector will outperform the North American economy as it recovers from COVID-19, although employment will struggle as companies shed higher-income earners. In related news: engineered wood and mass timber are poised for strong growth; DIY keeps the renovation sector hopping; dealers are encouraged by the uptick in housing starts; add logs to the Canada-China trade problem; and Pinnacle completes its Williams Lake, BC upgrade.
In Forestry/Climate news: BC tree planting in the time of COVID; scientists say the US trillion trees plan is a risky climate strategy; a Russian theory claims forests make both rain and wind; and First Nations are a key part of Canada’s sustainable biomass strategy.
Finally, achievements in tall wood buildings are celebrated in a new book.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
A/Wood Markets 10th annual Global Softwood Log and Lumber conference—the virtual version, wrapped yesterday with six live Q&A sessions and a discussion on global mega-trends and their potential long-term impact post COVID-19. FEA’s current forecast calls for the overall economy to return to where it was in the fourth quarter of 2019— in the second half of 2022, whereas softwood lumber and other forest product consumption will regain their 2019-Q4 levels sometime in 2021. Underlying the FEA forecast… housing will outperform the US economy …employment recovery will struggle somewhat due to a second wave of lay-offs of higher earning employees …due to a flair-up and other concerns in China and South Korea, reduced COVID-19 recovery optimism suggests the economy will experience sluggish growth until a vaccine is found. …Responding to a question on the outlook for a resolution to the softwood lumber dispute in the next year or two, Paul Jannke responded that the parties are further apart rather than closer together—given current markets.
There may be a new front in the lingering trade tensions between Canada and China: logs. Canadian officials are investigating after China said it discovered pests in shipments of hardwood and softwood. The move comes three weeks after a judge ruled that extradition proceedings may continue against Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou and is raising concerns the pest issue may be politically-motivated. “This looks like it could be a ‘tit for tat’ move around the extradition of Huawei’s CFO,” Mark Wilde, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The Canadian government received 16 notifications of non-compliance from China related to the discovery of pests in shipments of hardwood and softwood logs on June 9, said Ryan Nearing, a spokesman for Canada’s minister for trade. …Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council says, “I understand there are political issues between Canada and China. Those are separate from the commercial relationships we have.”
Don’t miss the third webinar in the series: Elevating Wood Construction in 2020. Thursday, June 25, 2020. Encapsulated Mass Timber Construction (EMTC) as permitted under the 2020 National Building Code, 2019 British Columbia Building Code (jurisdictional basis) and the Vancouver Building Code offers the BC design, construction and development industries significant advantages in terms of structural performance, scale possibilities, construction efficiencies and construction safety. This education session comes at a timely moment as the BC provincial government just announced its support for mass timber construction as one of the means to move the BC economy forward from the COVID-19 crisis. Included is the debut of a new video, Fire Performance Demonstration Workshop 2.0 – Understanding fire design: applications, which demonstrates a side-by-side comparison of building materials including one of mass timber, in a live burn scenario. …The video summarizes the learning outcomes essential for understanding taller and larger wood building fire requirements.
VANCOUVER — No one was injured Thursday after a fire started at — and almost completely destroyed — a four-storey apartment building that was under construction in South Vancouver. Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services responded to a third alarm fire at West 62nd Avenue and Columbia Street around 6:00 p.m. It took crews a full hour to get the fire under control. The fact that a wood-frame building was under construction made it particularly challenging. “The frame building, the wood, it was a huge fire load, nice and dry inside. It almost exploded with the fire from heat in a matter of seconds,” says Assistant Chief Brian Bertuzzi.
In Canada, June 21, has been designated National Indigenous Peoples Day. As stated by the Government of Canada, this is a day to “recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.” …Increasing economic ties with Indigenous people is a huge opportunity for Canada’s wood pellet sector. As a result of political and legal changes, more and more Indigenous communities are playing an active role in the management of forest resources. There is increasing participation by Indigenous communities and businesses in the forest sector as tenure holders, mill owners, contractors and consultants. This creates opportunities for reconciliation and full participation by Indigenous peoples in the Canadian economy. …Canadian wood pellet producers stand ready to work together with Indigenous people to provide sustainable economic development at home and sustainable biomass energy to the world.
