Between January to September 2014 China imported 1,5485,000 cubic metres of European sawnwood, a year on year increase of 21%. The pace of growth in China's imports of German beech reached 42%.
China’s sawnwood imports from Europe
| January to September 2014 | Year on year change % | |||
| cu.m. | US$/cu.m | cu.m | US$/cu.m | |
| Total | 1,548,500 | 321 | 21% | 9% |
| Germany | 350,600 | 327 | 42% | -2% |
| Sweden | 316,300 | 268 | 9% | 7% |
| Finland | 300,700 | 280 | 0.0% | 39% |
| Romania | 192,300 | 368 | 8% | 7% |
| Other | 388,600 | 47% | ||
Source: China Customs
Despite a difficult market situation, the EGGER Group, with headquarters in St. Johann in Tirol (AT), has increased its turnover. This was the conclusion of the half-year balance of 31 October 2014. The turnover increased, in comparison to the same period the previous year, by 2.3% to EUR 1,163 million (previous year: EUR 1,137 million). The EBITDA increased to EUR 172.6 million.
With 3.7%, EGGER reached the largest turnover growth in the department Decorative Products, which sells products for furniture and interior design.
"All geographical markets, with the exception of Russia, where currency fluctuations and the crisis in Ukraine had an impact, have grown in this product area as compared to the previous year", says Thomas Leissing, Head of Finances/Management/Logistics, and spokesman of the EGGER Group Management.
The turnover decrease in EGGER Retail Products (-7.9%), which sells flooring, shows that the manufacturer of wood-based materials moves in a very challenging economic context. The company made a conscious decision to forgo unprofitable volume business.
The turnover of OSB and timber for EGGER Building Products also proved to be declining (-5.4%). Decreasing demand and the price pressure for OSB marked these markets.
The company management looks confidently towards the second half-year of its financial year. "Thanks to the continued investments, we have more than 17 modern, environmentally friendly and safe plants," says Thomas Leissing.
Due to the positive development in Western Europe and the key markets of Eastern Europe, EGGER is expecting for the entire financial year 2014/15 a similar turnover growth as the one registered in the first half-year.
In the first six months of the 2014/15 financial year, EGGER invested EUR 113.6 million in property, plant, and equipment as well as in tangible assets (previous year: EUR 102.2 million). Out of this amount, EUR 30.3 million were spent on maintenance investments and EUR 83.3 million on growth investments.
The key growth investments in the first half-year 2014/15 were investments in a high bay warehouse and a new administrative building at the headquarters in St. Johann (AT), the modernization of the glue factory in Hexham (UK), as well as the expansion of the Gagarin (RU) site to include a short cycle press and an impregnation system.
Rising plywood imports into the UK in 2014 are due both to higher levels of construction activity and to improvements in the supply side.
UK importers report that Chinese MLH plywood has been readily available this year at stable prices. Orders in the last quarter of 2014 could be shipped from China within around four weeks. However quality consistency remains an issue for some UK buyers of Chinese plywood.
Freight rate volatility has also been a problem again this year. Rates tend to rise at the start of each month and then decline sharply as shipping companies fail to fill available space.
While plywood imports into Germany were strong in the opening months of 2014, the market showed signs of w eakness in the second half of the year. This was primarily due to the recent downturn in the Germany economy. Imports have also been hindered by the German customs decision to reclassify much of the plywood imported from China as laminated wood.
Technically these two products are distinguished by the direction of grain in alternate veneer layers – in plywood the grain is crossed at right angles whereas in laminated wood it is parallel. Plywood attracts a duty of only 7% while laminated wood attracts a duty of 10%.
In the absence of reliable assurances that only products glued crosswise are supplied by Chinese suppliers, some German importers are switching back to alternative products including European birch and softwood plywood.
The Italian government plans to increase the VAT on wood pellets from a current 10% to 22%. With the new tax raise, additional revenues to Italy's budget are expected to go up to € 96 million per year.
Italy is Europe's largest pellet consumer with a current annual consumption rate of 3.5 million tons,. Pellets in Italy are used mainly for heating purposes. The new VAT will bring a considerable price increase.
For example, a 15 kg bag of pellets in Italy -which now approximatelly costs from 4.8 to 5.6 euro - will be more expensive by 50 Euro cents. For purchases of a ton, the price increase will reach 30-35 Euros.
The price of wood pellets in Germany remains stable at a low level in December. As the German Energy Wood and Pellet Association (DEPV) reports, pellets currently cost on average 253.70 EUR / t, only 1 percent above the price of the previous month and more than 11 percent below December 2013.
Due to the rapidly falling oil price, the price advantage of pellets over heating oil is currently only 13.7 percent.
In 2014, the cost per a ton pellets throughout the year was on average 258.34 EUR. The price advantage over heating oil has averaged 32 percent.
In Germany, the price of wood pellets in December 2014 has the following regional differences:
in the center of the country pellets cost 252.48 EUR / t, at a 6 t purchase quantity. In southern Germany, pellets cost 252.99 EUR / t and in the north and east 256.25 EUR / t.
Larger quantities (26 t) were traded in December 2014 at the following rates: North / East: 239.24 EUR/ t, Center: 237.42 EUR / t, South: 238.46 EUR / t (all incl.).
Sawlog prices were lower in the 3Q in most of the 20 regions that are the basis for the Global Sawlog Price Index (GSPI). The Index fell by 4.6% from the 2Q to $85.56/m3, with the biggest price drops occurring in the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe. The decline came after three consecutive quarters of increases and the GSPI reaching a three-year high in the 2Q/14.
Sawlog prices fell in both the local currencies and in US dollar terms, as the dollar was strengthening against most currencies during the third quarter. In US dollar terms there were some countries where prices fell quite substantially quarter-over-quarter, including Russia (-14%), Western Canada (-10%), Sweden (-9%), the Czech Republic (-9%) and Brazil (-9%).
In addition to the stronger US dollar, there was also a slightly weaker demand for lumber in Japan, the US, Canada and several other major markets in Western Europe, resulting in downward price pressure on sawlogs in the third quarter.
With a few exceptions, current sawlog prices are between 5-15% higher than the 10-year averages. Eastern and Central Europe are currently the regions with the highest current log costs as compared to the average costs for the past decade. In the Nordic countries, the trend has been the reverse, with recent prices being below the ten-year averages.
In Western US, weaker demand for logs in the export market has resulted in lower log export prices during the summer and fall, which was welcome news for domestic consumers of sawlogs. Prices for sawlogs have come down nine percent from their eightyear high early in 2014. Despite the recent decline, current price levels are still 15-20% higher than the ten-year price averages.
In the US South, sawlog prices have been fairly stable for over five years and sawmills in this region have some of the lowest wood raw-material costs in all of North America.
The recent rapid and significant depreciation of the yen since late October pushes cost of all the imported commodity sharply.
North American Douglas fir log prices for November shipment are US$ 20 per M Scribner up FAS., making IS sort prices of US$ 870. An increase in FAS dollar prices plus weak yen will make arrived yen cost much higher, which will impact Douglas fir lumber prices in Japan.
Export prices of South Sea hardwood plywood remain unchanged but recent higher FOB prices with exchange rate of about 115 yen per dollar, arrived cost of JAS 3x6 concrete forming panel would be about 1,370 yen per sheet FOB truck port yard and coated concret e forming panel about 1,500 yen about 150 yen per sheet higher than current Japan market prices.
Negotiations on European lumber are in confusion as the European suppliers intend to increase the export Euro prices but the Japanese buyers are unable to increase the sales prices because of market slump.
The Yen's depreciation comes when the demand for wood products is sluggish with low housing starts so the yen prices of wood products would remain weak and price hike is impossible for a time being.
Portucel S.A informs that it will develop the construction of a wood pellet manufacturing facility in the United States, in South Carolina, with an installed capacity of 460 thousand tons per year, totalling an estimated investment of USD 110 million (approximately € 89 million at the current exchange rate).
The construction of the mill will start in 2015 and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. Portucel has negotiated supply contracts with fixed price and tenure of 10 years, guaranteeing the sale of around 70% of the new facility ́s output.
Located in Greenwood County, the mill stands in an area with favourable conditions in terms of wood availability and cost of energy.
As the company says in a press release, the project represents an interesting investment opportunity for the company, where Portucel can leverage its knowledge in wood converting and industrial processes, going into the bioenergy business.
Metsä Wood has signed a cooperation agreement with Itochu Group with the aim of increasing sales in the Asian market. The agreement makes Itochu Kenzai Corporation, a subsidiary of Itochu Corporation, an agent and distributor for Metsä Wood's sawn timber in the Japanese market as of 1 January 2015.
Metsä Wood will also simultaneously dispose of its holding in Finnforest Nippon. The current agency agreement with Finnforest Nippon expired on 9 December 2014.
Metsä Wood provides wood products for construction, industry and distributor partners. The products are manufactured from northern wood. Metsä Wood’s sales were EUR 897 million in 2013, and it employs approximately 2,500 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.
The Russian wood-based panel company Sveza Group complains that a decline in consumption in the Russian market along with the favourable situation on export markets has led to a redistribution of trade flows. According to a Whatwood.ru report, this unfavourable context has led to a decline of Sveza's domestic sales by 0.3%, in the first half-year. Moreover, there is a growing competition from cheap Chinese plywood made of poplar, which is now selling harder on environmentally sensitive markets of Europe and USA.
Russia's main driver for plywood consumption still in the construction, primarily monolithic, where the demand is focused on laminated birch plywood, says Whatwood. With that, the volume of residential construction in Russia in the first half-year of 2014 decreased by 2.6% year-on-year, which surely affects plywood sales. However, according to Sveza’s Marketing Director Yulia Ermakova, quoted by Whatwood, the decrease may also reflect the final phase of projects launched on a wave of post-crisis recovery and growth several years ago.
In recent time, there has been a redistribution of demand in favour of economy-class apartment houses in Russia. As a consequence, the demand for shuttering plywood in the mass construction is decreasing, and the current economic situation and uncertainty of international relations do not give reasons to anticipate growth in demand for residential and commercial housing in the medium term.
Kährs Group, a Swedish wood and resilient flooring manufacturer, will increase hardwood flooring production capacity in the existing production unit in Satulung, Romania. As the company says in a press release, the movement is a part of the ongoing efforts to streamline the production process further within the group, so now parts of the wooden floor range will be produced in Romania.
Kährs Group aims to increase total production capacity as well as to reduce costs by simplifying the product flow.
With the integration of the production in Satulung, Kährs Group also wants to bring improvements in terms of logistics and eliminate internal transports between facilities as well as providing a strategic location near the Central European market and raw materials for production of wood floors. The production of finished hardwood floors in Satulung is estimated to begin at the end of 2015.
Christer Persson, President and CEO Kährs Group, commented:"Kährs Group sees higher demand in its main markets and intends to continue to grow. By implementing this change in our production structure we can further strengthen Nybro’s position as the Group’s development center for wooden floors and thereby reinforce our work in terms of design, innovation and product development."
About Kährs Group
Kährs Group is a world leading wood and resilient flooring manufacturer with well-known and globally recognized brands such as Kährs, Karelia and Upofloor. Kährs Group delivers products to more than 50 countries and have a market leading position in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia as well as a strong position in other important markets such as the UK and Germany. The group employs 1,600 people and has yearly sales of around 300 MEUR.
Georgia-Pacific will invest approximately US$6 million at its Thorsby, Alabama, engineered lumber operations to expand production capacity of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). Improvements include upgrading the press system's lay-up line and veneer sheet feeders, as well as increasing overall veneer dryer capacity and efficiency. Project completion is expected by the second quarter of 2015.
"As the housing market continues a slow, but steady improvement, we are investing in our building products division to ensure our ability to meet growing customer needs," said Paul Watterson, general manager for Georgia-Pacific's engineered lumber business. "Along with being located within a good wood basin that provides easy access to raw materials, the improvements to our Thorsby operations will increase our ability to supply LVL – a key component for beams and headers in new construction."
Georgia‑Pacific has seven facilities in Alabama, three of which are part of the building products division. The company employs approximately 2,500 people directly in the state of Alabama, with approximately 240 people located at the Thorsby operations.
Since 2006, Georgia-Pacific building products has invested nearly $2.5 billion in capital for property and equipment upgrades and acquisitions, including the 2007 purchase of several International Paper building products assets, the 2010 Grant Forest Products acquisition, and most recently, the $710 million acquisition of the former Temple-Inland Building Products assets.
This week, German Pellets signed a further supply contract with a European power-plant operator. The contract has a term of ten years and makes provision for the supply of up to five million tonnes of wood pellets to a power plant in Europe over this period. It is projected that supplies will commence in mid-2016.
"This supply contract emphasises that, in the competitive environment of the industrial pellets market, German Pellets is a highly-regarded business partner for large-scale users of the product, such as European energy groups", Peter H. Leibold observes.
Because of this course of expansion in the use of wood pellets in European power plants, German Pellets expects that in future it will conclude more supply contracts of this nature.
As a commercial hub for the industrial pellets' market, throughout Europe German Pellets is marketing both its in-house-produced wood pellets and also other manufacturers' merchandise.
The Turkish Kastamonu Entegre, one of the world's largest producers of wood-based panels, has presented at the 26th international furniture exhibition “Mebel-2014” in Moscow its products made at the company's new Russian mill, Whatwood.ru reported. The mill is located in the special economic zone “Alabuga” (Elabuga, Republic of Tatarstan), and the investment amounted to US$ 600 million. The major product at the factory is MDF. In the structure of Kastamonu’s Russian sales, 59% falls within sanded MDF, 41% – within laminated MDF.
As WhatWood pointss out, the Russian MDF market is developing actively. Joint production capacity of Russian companies amounts to 2.1 million m3, while the volume of the Russian market is estimated at 2.5 million m3.
Monthly production volumes at Kastamonu's MDF mill will make up 30,000 m3 at the moment. After reaching the rated capacity the mill is to produce 475-500 thousand m3 annually. The company will therefore become the market leader in Russia, according to Whatwood.
The company also presented the product line of glossy panels used as MDF facades for EvoGloss furniture. Kastamonu intends to start making this product at the mill in Elabuga in 2015.
Kastamonu was formed in 1969 as a part of HAYAT holding and currently has eight mills in Turkey, as well as enterprises in Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russia. The company specializes in the production of MDF and particleboard panels, laminate flooring, door linings, and furniture panels. It is ranked among the Top-5 European woodworking companies with an annual turnover of $1.2 billion in 2013.
The Turkish Kastamonu Entegre, one of the world's largest producers of wood-based panels, has presented at the 26th international furniture exhibition “Mebel-2014” in Moscow its products made at the company's new Russian mill, Whatwood.ru reported. The mill is located in the special economic zone “Alabuga” (Elabuga, Republic of Tatarstan), and the investment amounted to US$ 600 million. The major product at the factory is MDF. In the structure of Kastamonu’s Russian sales, 59% falls within sanded MDF, 41% – within laminated MDF.
As WhatWood pointss out, the Russian MDF market is developing actively. Joint production capacity of Russian companies amounts to 2.1 million m3, while the volume of the Russian market is estimated at 2.5 million m3.
Monthly production volumes at Kastamonu's MDF mill will make up 30,000 m3 at the moment. After reaching the rated capacity the mill is to produce 475-500 thousand m3 annually. The company will therefore become the market leader in Russia, according to Whatwood.
The company also presented the product line of glossy panels used as MDF facades for EvoGloss furniture. Kastamonu intends to start making this product at the mill in Elabuga in 2015.
Kastamonu was formed in 1969 as a part of HAYAT holding and currently has eight mills in Turkey, as well as enterprises in Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russia. The company specializes in the production of MDF and particleboard panels, laminate flooring, door linings, and furniture panels. It is ranked among the Top-5 European woodworking companies with an annual turnover of $1.2 billion in 2013.
Norbord Inc. and Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which they will merge to create a leading global wood products company focused on oriented strand board (OSB) across North America, Europe and Asia.
As Norbord states in a press release, 'the combination of the two companies will create one of the largest and lowest-cost OSB producers globally, with a portfolio of high-quality assets that produce a wide range of products for residential, industrial and specialty applications'.
Under the terms of the arrangement agreement announced today, Norbord has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Ainsworth. On a pro forma basis, the combined company generated USD $1.63 billion in sales and USD $143 million in Adjusted EBITDAfor the 12 months ended September 27, 2014.
Norbord operates seven North American mills, principally in the U.S. southeast with one mill in Quebec, along with four mills in Europe principally serving the United Kingdom, Germany and the Benelux region. Ainsworth operates four Canadian mills, three in Western Canada and one in Ontario. With total OSB capacity of approximately 7.7 billion square feet (3/8 inch basis), the combined company will be the largest in the global OSB industry.
The newly formed company plans to increase capacity through the expansion of Norbord's OSB production in Western Europe, the restart of Norbord's two idled mills in North America and the completion of Ainsworth's second line in Grand Prairie, Alberta.
The combined company will operate under the Norbord name, and Norbord's CEO Peter Wijnbergen will lead the business following the close of the transaction while drawing upon the extensive strategic, operating and financial experience of both Norbord and Ainsworth. Ainsworth's CEO Jim Lake has agreed to stay on with the combined company in an advisory capacity for a period of six months. As part of its strategy to continue growing exports to Asia, the combined company will maintain an office in Vancouver, B.C.
About Norbord
Norbord Inc. is an international producer of wood-based panels with assets of more than $1 billion, employing approximately 1,950 people at 13 plant locations in the United States, Europe and Canada. Norbord is one of the world's largest producers of OSB. In addition to OSB, Norbord manufactures particleboard, medium density fibreboard (MDF) and related value-added products. Norbord is a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NBD.
About Ainsworth
Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of OSB with a focus on value-added specialty products for markets in North America and Asia. Ainsworth's four OSB manufacturing mills, located in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, have a combined annual capacity of 2.5 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis).
Prices for softwood lumber imported to China increased this fall, while they fell in Japan as the housing market weakened. In the US, lumber prices were moving downward in the 3Q, while still being close to their highest levels in ten years, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. In the Nordic countries and Russia, lumber exports have increased because of higher demand for wood in key markets in Europe and the MENA countries.
Demand for softwood lumber has been steadily increasing on a worldwide basis since the great recession. The higher consumption of lumber has resulted in a rise in the global trade of lumber with shipments in 2014 on pace to be the highest since 2007.
Lumber market – the US
After lumber prices peaked in the US in the late summer, prices have trended downward during the fall and November prices were about ten percent below those in August with the biggest decline in prices being for southern yellow pine. The Random Lengths Price Index, a composite of 15 common lumber grades in North America, has also fallen this autumn. Despite the recent decline, the Index is nearing higher levels than we have seen in over ten years.
Lumber market – Northern Europe
Lumber prices in both Sweden and Finland have been trending upward since early 2012, and in the 3Q/14 they were at their highest levels in 3 1/2 years. Swedish lumber exports have increased by as much as seven percent over the first eight months of the year and total lumber shipments in 2014 are projected to be at their highest level since 2008. The markets in Egypt, the United Kingdom and Denmark in particular have grown this year.
Lumber market – Russia
Benefiting from a weakening currency, Russian lumber exporters have increased export volumes during the summer and fall this year with the 3Q/14 shipments reaching a record high. The biggest increase in exports has been to China, the largest market for Russian lumber, where the shipments for the first nine months this year were 11% higher than the same period last year. The average value for lumber exported during the 2Q/14 and 3Q/14 has fell slightly.
Lumber market - Japan
The housing market in Japan took a hit this year when the economy was impacted by the increase in the country’s sales tax in April. The reduced activity in the construction sector has impacted demand for lumber, with domestic lumber production falling and lumber import volumes declining 16%. Prices for both domestic and imported lumber have declined this fall compared to the first half of the year.
Lumber market – China
Despite the reduction in house sales, China has increased the importation of softwood lumber by five percent during the first nine months of this year as compared to the same period in 2013. The 3Q/14 import volume was actually the second highest quarterly import volume on record. The average import prices for softwood lumber have trended upward for almost five years and were close to record highs in the 3Q/14.
In the absence of a large domestic wood floor manufacturing sector, the UK is a large consumer of imported wood flooring. UK consumption trends in 2014 have been more positive than in other parts of Europe, driven by strong activity in the construction sector and rising consumer confidence, ITTO reported.
The latest Construction Trade Survey undertaken by the UK Construction Production Association (CPA) reports that construction activity increased again in the third quarter of 2014, the sixth consecutive rise in activity.
Although private housing output slowed, this was offset by growth in all other sectors. Construction firms also reported increases in forward looking indicators such as orders and enquiries suggesting that activity will continue to rise throughout 2015.
Drawing on the results of regular surveys and analysis of longer term demand trends the CPA forecasts that the UK construction sector will grow 4.8% in 2014 and 5.3% in 2015. Sectors particularly relevant to the flooring industry are expected to perform very well. Private housing starts are expected to grow 18% in 2014 and 10% in 2015.
The private housing sector’s rapid growth since early 2013 has been sustained by consistent levels of demand, the general UK economy’s return to health and government policies. For example, the UK government’s “Help to Buy” scheme allows private buyers to secure a mortgage with just a 5% deposit.
The private commercial sector, the largest component of UK construction, is set to increase 3.7% in 2014 and 6.1% in 2015. This sector is expected to benefit from a pickup in consumer spending and business investment and drive growth in each year up to 2018.
The CPA expects new offices construction will expa nd by 10% in 2014 and 8% in 2015, followed by 7% in 2016. The retail sector remains exposed to the long - term trend away from the high street to internet shopping, and previous peak output levels are unlikely before 2018.
Nevertheless, new large developments should still support growth in the retail sector of 8% from 2015. Austerity in the previous three years has meant that public sector construction has severely hindered overall construction recovery.
However the low point of public sector investment in construction seems to have passed. Increased funding for schools and hospitals is expected to lead to public sector construction growth averaging 2.6% per year between 2015 and 2018.
Growth in UK flooring demand slower than other economic sectors
A new report by Verdict, an independent market research company, also highlights that prospects are improving in the UK floor coverings market. Verdict notes that UK consumers are more confident about their finances, housing transactions are growing quickly and pent-up demand is being released.
However, Verdict also caution that the rate of growth in the flooring sector will likely be much slower than in other areas of the UK economy. Verdict predict that the UK floor coverings market will increase by just 1.7% as homeowners prioritise other sectors due to floor coverings' more hardwearing nature.
Verdict forecast that from 2014 to 2019, total demand for floor coverings in the UK will grow by 15.1%. Verdict suggest that a large share of this growth in demand will be in kitchen floors and will involve a wide mix of materials. This is partly because more homeowners will want to develop a room which they had deferred during the downturn.
It is also because of life-style changes in the UK. The kitchen has become the hub of today’s home, the place where the family gathers and spends more time in each day. There is a move to “open plan living” in which different functional zones in the home are defined not by walls but by different surface materials including tiles, laminates, carpets and real wood flooring.
Another trend identified by Verdict in UK flooring and furnishing sales is a significant shift from traditional retail outlets to on-line retailers. However, rather than seeing this as a threat, forward-looking retailers are exploiting the trend.
According to Gillian Drakeford, UK country manager of IKEA, the furniture giant now views online as a compliment to stores. “Customers are visiting the store and using the layouts to get ideas but perhaps going home and placing the order online. Going online is not killing the stores – it makes us more accessible, which grows the brand” she says.
IKEA’s sales figures suggest that the strategy is working. Overall UK sales of IKEA jumped by 11% to £1.4bn in the year to 31 August and footfall at IKEA stores is also increasing, rising by 5%. During the same period, IKEA UK's online sales increased by a quarter and now make up 10% of sales.
UK Flooring Show highlights challenge to wood
Signs of mounting confidence in the UK’s flooring sector were apparent at the 52nd edition of The Flooring Show, the UK’s longest - established and only national flooring event held in Harrogate from 21-23 September.
After a few years of marking time, largely due to overall economic conditions, this year’s show reported significant growth. Over 150 exhibiting brands were present covering some 3,500 square metres of exhibition space across four halls, up from 120 brands and 3,000 square metres respectively in 2013.
While the increase in numbers is encouraging for the flooring sector generally, the composition of exhibitors and show publicity highlighted the mounting challenge to wood from substitute materials. Wood products manufacturers and suppliers were in a minority at the show wh ile there was a very strong showing from manufacturers of carpets and tiles.
A large proportion of wood-based flooring on display consisted of laminated products. Exhibitors were showing a wide range of new laminate flooring designs “inspired by natural w ood”, with a strong focus on oak, worn wood and distressed patterns.
The range of new flooring products based on reconstituted wood-fibre also continues to expand. UK-based Interfloor was exhibiting the Nadura range, manufactured by Meister in Germany, which it claimed is a “completely new category of flooring made using wood powder technology”.
The range replicates slate, sandstone, metallic and wood effects and is designed to be hard wearing, with a lifetime residential warranty, slip resistant and ea sy to clean.
Suppliers of real wood flooring were represented at the show by Mohawk, a global player that offers hardwood flooring alongside a wide variety of other floor types, and BGP Trading, a leading Italian company in the wooden flooring market. BGP were exhibiting their top luxury “100% Made in Italy” collection of engineered hardwood flooring products.
There was a strong focus on oak in this collection, although the company can also supply high end engineered products faced with tropical specie s including teak, doussie and iroko.
Changing conditions are forcing the wood and furniture industries to adapt in many ways. For example, market demand for one-off production is on the rise, and industry needs to deliver on this without compromising quality, efficiency or flexibility.
The same goes for optimizing resource consumption and the long-term traceability of the components and materials used. In order to meet these and other challenges, it is essential that wood and furniture industry professionals as well as mechanical engineering and automation specialists pool their expertise and together develop suitably networked and integrated approaches to manufacturing.
The place where it all comes together is LIGNA – the world’s leading trade fair for the forestry and wood industries. At LIGNA’s next staging (11 to 15 May 2015), exhibitors will be providing a comprehensive and revealing look at how cutting-edge networked production is already possible today. The most important innovations and solutions for smart manufacturing will be on display, giving tangible shape to the “Smart Factory” vision for woodworkers, wood processors and furniture makers.
Custom production of one-off furniture items requires a high degree of process reliability. System availability, throughput speed and processing performance must be in tune to ensure quality and efficiency. This requires very precise measurement technology as well as a high degree of automation. Each individual assembly needs to perform dependably, and communication between the various machines has to be seamless, also right on through to the planning and marketing phases.
Smart automation solutions in the wood and furniture industry can enable manufacturing facilities to autonomously predict tool wear in advance, reduce emissions, optimize energy consumption through tailored assembly control, and prevent production flaws. Downtimes, manual adjustments and scrap are minimized, machine operating convenience and service life are improved, through-times are optimized, and productivity and energy efficiency raised – all without higher automation technology costs.
Smart automation technology thus contributes significantly to making furniture manufacturing more flexible, efficient and sustainable. Already today, existing and new plants can be equipped with the core technology, which is PC-based and open system. Thanks to advanced telecommunications, data from every link of the production planning and manufacturing chain can be seamlessly exchanged in real time.
So far, only applications of limited scale can benefit from the above technology. Currently available PC computing power cannot yet cope with the necessary volumes of data to control complex machines and systems. However, automation specialists are already working closely with their partners on promising new concepts, using a combination of leading-edge hardware and software to develop smart, high-performance system solutions that can connect to processing facilities with minimal custom programming.
Christian Pfeiffer, head of the LIGNA department at Deutsche Messe, explains the need: “The major challenge for the future is to create an optimal control architecture to meet the complex requirements of the Smart Factory. Ideally this means both the horizontal networking of the process parameters for each individual step – e.g. order receipt, planning, manufacturing, logistics and distribution – as well as vertical integration of all data flows, embracing everything from the raw materials used right on up to the end of the product lifecycle.”
Changing conditions are forcing the wood and furniture industries to adapt in many ways. For example, market demand for one-off production is on the rise, and industry needs to deliver on this without compromising quality, efficiency or flexibility.
The same goes for optimizing resource consumption and the long-term traceability of the components and materials used. In order to meet these and other challenges, it is essential that wood and furniture industry professionals as well as mechanical engineering and automation specialists pool their expertise and together develop suitably networked and integrated approaches to manufacturing.
The place where it all comes together is LIGNA – the world’s leading trade fair for the forestry and wood industries. At LIGNA’s next staging (11 to 15 May 2015), exhibitors will be providing a comprehensive and revealing look at how cutting-edge networked production is already possible today. The most important innovations and solutions for smart manufacturing will be on display, giving tangible shape to the “Smart Factory” vision for woodworkers, wood processors and furniture makers.
Custom production of one-off furniture items requires a high degree of process reliability. System availability, throughput speed and processing performance must be in tune to ensure quality and efficiency. This requires very precise measurement technology as well as a high degree of automation. Each individual assembly needs to perform dependably, and communication between the various machines has to be seamless, also right on through to the planning and marketing phases.
Smart automation solutions in the wood and furniture industry can enable manufacturing facilities to autonomously predict tool wear in advance, reduce emissions, optimize energy consumption through tailored assembly control, and prevent production flaws. Downtimes, manual adjustments and scrap are minimized, machine operating convenience and service life are improved, through-times are optimized, and productivity and energy efficiency raised – all without higher automation technology costs.
Smart automation technology thus contributes significantly to making furniture manufacturing more flexible, efficient and sustainable. Already today, existing and new plants can be equipped with the core technology, which is PC-based and open system. Thanks to advanced telecommunications, data from every link of the production planning and manufacturing chain can be seamlessly exchanged in real time.
So far, only applications of limited scale can benefit from the above technology. Currently available PC computing power cannot yet cope with the necessary volumes of data to control complex machines and systems. However, automation specialists are already working closely with their partners on promising new concepts, using a combination of leading-edge hardware and software to develop smart, high-performance system solutions that can connect to processing facilities with minimal custom programming.
Christian Pfeiffer, head of the LIGNA department at Deutsche Messe, explains the need: “The major challenge for the future is to create an optimal control architecture to meet the complex requirements of the Smart Factory. Ideally this means both the horizontal networking of the process parameters for each individual step – e.g. order receipt, planning, manufacturing, logistics and distribution – as well as vertical integration of all data flows, embracing everything from the raw materials used right on up to the end of the product lifecycle.”
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