Import:Export Wood Purchasing News - April/May
IMPORT/EXPORT www.woodpurchasingnews.com Vol. 45 No. 5 Serving Forest Products Buyers Worldwide APRIL/MAY 2019 NAHB IBS Marks 75 Years as Innovative Trade Show, Shares Venue with KBIS Photos by Terry Miller and Zach Miller Roy Hopper, John Stevenson, Nguyen Thi Thanh, Truss Beasley and Thu Nguyen, Thompson Hardwoods Inc., Hazlehurst, GA Additional photos on page 8 American Hardwoods Strongly Represented at VIFA; AHEC Provides Prominent Red Oak Promotion By Michael Buckley Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam–The Vietnam International Furniture & Home Accessories Fair (VIFA) Expo, held here at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center, is now considered the “must visit” international event in the March series of furniture shows in Southeast Asia. Organized by HAWA Corporation, it habitually runs at full capacity, but this year exceeded all expectations with 3,200 visitors registered on the opening day; producing a vibrant and busy energy – a reflection of the industry’s performance in 2018. VIFA has been an important show for the promotion of American hardwoods for the last few years, but nobody could have missed the Red Oak prominently on display this year. With a booth entirely constructed of Red Oak lumber and 18 selected pieces of Red Oak furniture AHEC has marked its intentions on the market in Vietnam. Among the exhibitors of wood materials were almost a dozen North American companies (and three trade associations) including Classic American Hardwoods, Midwest Hardwood Corp., Northwest Hardwoods Inc., Oak Valley Hardwood, Ontario Hardwood Products, Peladeau Lumber, Primewood, Thompson Hardwoods Inc., Trans-Pacific Trading and W.M. Cramer Lumber Co., as well as local Vietnamese companies offering U.S. hardwood, such as Go My Co (Gutchess Lumber Co). Primewood’s representative noted that the show was “much improved since last year and a good time to sell Red Oak.” Thompson Hardwoods’ agent compared Vietnam with other regional countries as “now well established,” but Northwest Hardwoods felt the visitor traffic was slow – possibly the effect of the show’s layout. HCM City still lacks the exhibition facility it now deserves, with many exhibitors in an array of unconnected tents for those unable to secure space in the main hall. Canada was well represented with both Canada Wood and Quebec associations exhibiting and some prominent, supportive advertising. Continued on page 14 Adam Hazelwood, San Group Inc., Langley, BC; Dave Farley, BC Wood Specialties Group, Langley, BC; and Addison Ross and John Langstroth, San Group Inc., Langley, BC Additional photos on pages 8 & 10 Las Vegas, Nevada–The Las Vegas Convention Center here recently welcomed Design & Construction Week ® , which featured the co-location of the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) International Builders’ Show ® (IBS) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show ® (KBIS). This year’s event marked the 75th anniversary of IBS. This mega-event brought together more than 100,000 builders, general contractors, remodelers, designers and flooring professionals, as well as product specifiers from around the world. All registered IBS attendees had opportunity to explore more than 2,000 exhibitor booths in over 1 million square feet of space. IBS is more than a trade show, however. The three-day event featured education sessions and provided attendees exclusive access to new products on display as well as a chance to meet new exhibitors from every segment of the building industry. Photos By Terry Miller Continued on page 14 Canadian Hardwood Bureau Convenes for Annual Winter Meeting PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID JEFFERSON CITY. MO PERMIT NO. 303 Address Service Requested Import/Export Wood Purchasing News P.O. Box 34908 Memphis, TN 38184-0908 Jonathan Connely and Denis Dube, J.D. Irving Limited, Clair, NB; Tony Parks, National Hardwood Lumber Assoc. (NHLA), Memphis, TN; Chris Castano, Maine Woods Co., Portage Lake, ME; and Eric Porter, Abenaki Timber Corp., Kingston, NH Additional photos on pages 10 & 12 Montreal, Quebec–More than 90 hardwood industry professionals travelled to attend the 2019 winter meeting of the Canadian Hardwood Bureau (CHB), which was held recently at the DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal. This year, National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Yield Advisor Tony Parks was a guest speaker at the CHB meeting. Parks outlined the yield program, which examines such production processes as profitability and process improvement – trim gain, edging gain and productivity, for example, to identify areas for increased efficiencies. The program was of real interest to CHB delegates and the presentation generated a number of questions. Continued on page 14
