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INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE
From Forest2Market's Economic Outlook
Third quarter GDP is projected to have grown by 3.5 percent. This follows a 0.7 percent decline in the second quarter. The strong performance of the economy may indicate that we are out of the recession...at least for now.
How did the forest products industries fare in August?
Forest products manufacturing broke off its previous months' advances in August, retreating by 0.8 percent in the case of Wood Products and 0.2 percent for Paper.
For the rest of the performance overview of the Wood and Paper Products industries in September, click here. |
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HOUSING MARKET UPDATE |
Sales of existing homes showed some resilience in September, up 9.4 percent from August. Most credit the $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers that runs through November, low prices and low mortgage rates, which decreased from an average of 5.19 in August to 5.06 in September. (As of Oct. 29, the average for October is 4.95.) According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales activity is at the highest level in over two years.
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F2M LAUNCHES MILL2MARKET |
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Forest2Market unveils Mill2Market, weekly lumber price reports for buyers and sellers in the wholesale lumber trade. Mill2Market provides transaction-based pricing for a range of species, dimensions and lengths to help companies improve their net sales realizations.
The formal launch will occur at the 2009 North American Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA) Trader's Market on November 5.
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BCAP NEWS |
 Last week, the USDA released additional information about the BCAP program.
- Material used to make black liquor will not qualify as an eligible material under the program, whether the material used to make it is from federal or private lands.
- Wood pellet plants that ship pellets to European energy plants can qualify as biomass conversion facilities.
- If removed from non-industrial private forest land, eligible material collection and harvesting activities must be done according to a new or amended Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP), or other practice plan approved by the State forester.
- Two new documents were posted on the website last week: an updated qualified facilities list and a new and much more detailed eligible materials list. Both can be found here.
- The USDA is currently developing the rules and regulations that will guide the full implementation process in 2010. The rules are scheduled to be available within the month. They are still taking comments on their website.
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BLACK LIQUOR TAX CREDIT |
 One of the biggest controversies of the year has been the black liquor tax credit. This tax provision--a $0.50 per gallon tax credit--began as part of the 2005 highway bill; later it was expanded by the 2007 energy bill. Originally intended to reduce the amount of fossil fuels being used, the bill provided the tax credit to any company mixing alternative fuels with traditional fossil fuels. Pulp and paper companies, which were already burning black liquor to create energy, began mixing their black liquor with a small amount of traditional fossil fuel in order to qualify for the tax credits. More... |
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SAM HOUSTON JOINS FOREST2MARKET |
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As of today, Sam Houston has joined Forest2Market. As Manager of Supply Chain Services, Sam will manage existing customer relationships and lead new industry-wide initiatives relative to the supply chain. He will work out of the Forest2Market's Charlotte, N.C. headquarters.
Pete Stewart and the rest of the Forest2Market staff are extremely pleased that Houston will be joining the company. "Forest2Market has grown rapidly in 2008 and 2009," says Stewart. "We've started offering products for the wood bioenergy industry and we've just introduced Mill2Market, a new lumber pricing service. By hiring Houston to oversee supply chain initiatives and some of our existing customer relationships, we're in a much better position to manage our growth."
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FOREST2MARKET NEWS |
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Pete Stewart to speak at Cellulosic Biofuels Summit
Forest2Market's President and CEO, Pete Stewart, will speak at the Infocast's 2009 Cellulosic Biofuels Summit on November 19 at 10:30 a.m. Pete will describe how the biomass power market has helped shape the biomass supply chain, explain the impact biomass power will have on feedstock supply for cellulosic biofuels producers and provide a forecast of woody biomass demand, supply and pricing. The summit runs Nov. 16-19 at the Almas Temple Club in Washington, D.C. | |
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